This morning (April 25), the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) released its annual Global Music Report, an analysis of the revenue of the recorded-music business worldwide. The biggest headline: the global music business grew 5.9 percent in 2016 over the previous year, the biggest revenue growth since the IFPI began tracking the market in 1997 and the second-straight year of growth after 15 years of decline.
As part of that report, the IFPI also released a list of the top albums and songs globally for 2016, breaking out albums by sales numbers (digital downloads and physical sales) and tallying songs by track sales (individual track downloads) and track-equivalent streams. And while Drake was the top-selling artist worldwide last year -- he was named the IFPI's Global Recording Artist of the Year back in February, though total sales were not released -- Beyoncé's Lemonade was the highest-selling individual album of 2016 across the globe, according to the federation.
Last week, Billboard reported that Prince sold more albums in the U.S. in 2016 than any other artist, moving a combined 2.3 million copies, according to Nielsen Music, most of them in the month following his sudden death on April 21, 2016. Those were spread across titles like The Very Best Of Prince (668,000 copies), Purple Rain (498,000) and 1999 (169,000). On the IFPI's global artist list, the Purple One came in ninth overall.
IFPI's February announcement included the list of the top 10 global artists of the year, with David Bowie, Coldplay, Adele and Justin Bieber rounding out the top five in order. Twenty One Pilots, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Prince and The Weeknd, respectively, made up the rest of the top 10.
But today's Global Music Report broke down albums and songs individually, showcasing a few surprises. Check out each list below.
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Top-Selling Albums Globally of 2016, According to the IFPI (Physical & Digital Sales Only)
1. Beyoncé, Lemonade (2.5 million)
2. Adele, 25 (2.4 million)
3. Drake, Views (2.3 million)
4. Metallica, Hardwired...to Self-Destruct (2.1 million)
5. David Bowie, Blackstar (1.9 million)
6. The Rolling Stones, Blue & Lonesome (1.8 million)
7. Bruno Mars, 24k Magic (1.7 million)
8. Twenty One Pilots, Blurryface (1.5 million)
9. Coldplay, A Head Full of Dreams (1.4 million)
10. Pentatonix, A Pentatonix Christmas (1.4 million)
Top Digital Songs Globally of 2016, According to the IFPI (Track Sales & Track-Equivalent Streams)
1. Drake feat. WizKid & Kyla, "One Dance" (12.5 million)
2. Justin Bieber, "Love Yourself" (11.7 million)
3. The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey, "Closer" (11.7 million)
4. Sia, "Cheap Thrills" (11.1 million)
5. Justin Bieber, "Sorry" (10.8 million)
6. Rihanna feat. Drake, "Work" (10.6 million)
7. Lukas Graham, "7 Years" (10.4 million)
8. The Chainsmokers feat. Daya, "Don't Let Me Down" (10.2 million)
9. Mike Posner, "I Took a Pill in Ibiza" (10.0 million)
10. Twenty One Pilots, "Stressed Out" (9.9 million)
