The Best-Selling Music Artists (Digital Singles)
Downloading and streaming have transformed the way people listen to music. While some have remained faithful to more traditional formats — the nostalgic appeal of vinyl ensures it will never completely die out — the majority of listeners engage with their favorite singles and albums via their computer or handheld device.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) monitors digital music sales, and it’s a little more complicated than traditional sales: one equivalent song unit is equal to one digital song sale or 150 on-demand audio and/or video streams, and an artist’s record label has to submit a certification request to the RIAA on a per-track basis. This means the chart can change depending on a label's efficiency.
For now, according to the RIAA ranking, these are the 16 top-selling digital singles artists. Any surprises?
16. Luke Bryan
Certified units: 49 million
Hit you should know: “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye”
Top 10 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart: 6
Georgia-born Luke Bryan, the top selling male country music star when it comes to digital sales, is the definition of modern country, with nods to rock, hip-hop and R&B in his work. “No one better embodies country music in this decade,” wrote Billboard in 2018. It’s just as well Bryan followed his dad’s advice to pack up his truck and move to Nashville in 2007.
15. Flo Rida
Certified units: 49.5 million
Hit you should know: “Low”
Top 10 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart: 13
Since his 2008 breakout single “Low,” which was No. 1 for 10 weeks in the U.S. and broke the record for digital download sales at the time of its release, Flo Rida (aka Tramar Lacel Dillard) has secured himself a leading role in the global rap scene. He’s also collaborated with other big names, including Sia (“Wild Ones”) and Kesha (“Right Round”).
14. Chris Brown
Certified units: 51 million
Hit you should know: “Kiss Kiss”
Top 10 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart: 14
He’s one of the most controversial music artists, but his bad boy reputation hasn’t deterred Chris Brown’s fans. Brown was only 16 years old when his first single “Run It!” reached the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, making him the first male lead artist to do so since Diddy in 1997.
13. Post Malone
Certified units: 51 million
Hit you should know: “White Iverson”
Top 10 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart: 8
As rapper, producer and singer/songwriter Post Malone, Austin Richard Post’s career went stratospheric when “White Iverson,” an ode to NBA legend Allen Iverson, was leaked in 2015. The visual to accompany the song currently boasts over 704 million views on YouTube — an achievement the star no doubt celebrated the way he always does, with a meal at the Olive Garden. In December, Malone’s track “Sunflower” appeared on the soundtrack for Marvel’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”
12. The Weeknd
Certified units: 52 million
Hit you should know: “The Hills”
Top 10 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart: 9
Canadian “alternative R&B” artist The Weeknd, born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, was an unknown (and anonymous) YouTuber when he released a free download called “House of Balloons” in 2011. It caught the attention of fellow Canadian Drake, whose endorsement helped launched The Weeknd’s career. Since then, he’s won a slew of awards, including the Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album for “Beauty Behind the Madness” in 2014; he got the same award for “Starboy” in 2018.
11. Lady Gaga
Certified units: 61 million
Hit you should know: “Poker Face”
Top 10 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart: 21
“Poker Face” propelled Lady Gaga into global superstardom in 2009, earning her a Grammy and the No. 1 spot in dozens of countries. It remains one of the best-selling singles of all time and one of Gaga’s most enduring hits. The multi-talented artist, who broke Super Bowl performance viewing figure records in 2017, proved her acting chops as the leading lady in 2018’s “A Star is Born” alongside Bradley Cooper, a project that earned her several awards, including the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Actress, a BAFTA Award for Best Film Music and an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Shallow.”
10. Ed Sheeran
Certified units: 63.5 million
Hit you should know: “Sing”
Top 10 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart: 9
As a red-haired, bespeckled, bullied British school boy with a stutter, Ed Sheeran could only dream of being a famous singer. But that’s exactly what happened, thanks to his talent and determination — and the Eminem record that changed his life and helped him overcome his speech problems. Sheeran started making his own music and posting his videos online, and was noticed by the rapper Example, who was so impressed that he invited Sheeran to tour with him. Within a year, Sheeran was an international star.
9. Maroon 5
Certified units: 67 million
Hit you should know: “Moves Like Jagger” (feat. Christina Aguilera)
Top 10 hits on the Digital Song sales chart: 15
First formed high school, Maroon 5 is the only group in the top 10 digital singles chart, thanks to huge hits like “This Love” (from its debut album “Songs About Jane), which topped the charts around the world and won a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. “Moves Like Jagger” was another massive commercial success and the ninth best-selling digital single of 2011.
8. Kanye West
Certified units: 68.5 million
Hit you should know: “Gold Digger”
Top 10 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart: 25
Before Kanye West was famous for being part of the Kardashian clan, starting arguments on Twitter and calling himself a genius, he was best known for being an award-winning producer, songwriter and rapper (his first three albums all bagged a Grammy). Social media spats and reality TV forays aside, West continues to impress both the public and the industry; in 2018 he earned his first Grammy nomination for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.
7. Bruno Mars
Certified units: 69.5 million
Hit you should know: “Just the Way You Are”
Top 10 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart: 17
Now a household name for catchy pop songs like “Nothin' on You,” “Just the Way You Are," “Uptown Funk” and “That's What I Like,” Hawaiian Bruno Mars (he was born Peter Gene Hernandez but nicknamed Bruno as a baby) first made his mark on the music industry as a songwriter, penning hits for the likes of Adele, Flo Rida and The Vamps. After 2010’s No. 1 “Nothin’ on You,” Mars broke out as an artist and at the 2018 Grammys he swept the board, winning in all six categories for which he was nominated, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year.
6. Justin Bieber
Certified units: 69.5 million
Hit you should know: “What Do You Mean?”
Top 10 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart: 29
Canadian schoolkid Justin Bieber landed a record deal with Usher less than two years after his mom posted clips of him singing on YouTube. Before his 2009 debut album “My World” was released, Bieber had four top 40 hit singles — the first solo artist to do so. Following a brief hiatus following negative publicity, Bieber made an impressive comeback in 2015 and scored his first No. 1 single with “What Do You Mean?” In 2017, he collaborated with Luis Fonsi on “Despacito,” which held onto the No. 1 spot on the Hot Latin Songs chart for 56 consecutive weeks.
5. Katy Perry
Certified units: 99 million
Hit you should know: “I Kissed a Girl”
Top 10 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart: 16
Influenced by her conservative upbringing, Katy Perry’s first attempt at a pop career was with a gospel album, but it was after she took a different direction (with her 2008 No. 1 single “I Kissed a Girl”) that she hit the big time. She became the first female music artist to have released five No. 1 singles back to back from an album (her third, “Teenage Dream,” won her an American Music Award in 2011). In addition to continuing to release music and tour all over the world, Perry is a judge on “American Idol.”
4. Eminem
Certified units: 107.5 million
Hit you should know: “My Name Is”
Top 10 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart: 29
Eminem’s second studio album “The Slim Shady LP” was one of the biggest album hits of the late ‘90s, going multi-platinum and reaping the rapper two Grammy Awards and four MTV Video Music Awards. He followed this in 2000 with “The Marshall Mathers LP,” which was the fastest-selling rap album of all time. Between 2000 and 2010, Eminem/Marshall Mathers/Slim Shady sold more albums (32 million) in the U.S. than any other artist, leading to his Nielsen SoundScan Artist of the Decade Award.
3. Taylor Swift
Certified units: 120 million
Hit you should know: “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”
Top 10 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart: 44
Inspired from a young age by Shania Twain and Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift started off in the country charts but quickly became a huge crossover star, and today the singer/songwriter is one of the biggest names in the music world. Since her first self-titled debut album in 2006, she’s earned dozens of awards and broken record after record, including her own. Swift’s sixth studio album, 2017’s “Reputation,” sold 1.216 million copies in its first week in the U.S., making her the only artist in Nielsen Music history to achieve four million-selling weeks.
2. Rihanna
Certified units: 125 million
Hit you should know: “Umbrella” (feat. Jay-Z)
Top 10 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart: 35
Queen of versatility and reinvention, Rihanna has Britney Spears to thank for turning down the track that changed the Barbadian singer’s life. “Umbrella”” spent several weeks at No. 1 on singles charts all over the world in 2007, gave Rihanna her first Grammy Award and turned her into a superstar. As well as Jay-Z, who signed Rihanna to Def Jam Records in 2004, Rihanna has collaborated with Drake, Kanye West, Eminem and U2’s Bono and The Edge.
1. Drake
Certified units: 142 million
Hit you should know: “Hotline Bling”
Top 10 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart: 41
Nobody does rap in 2019 like Drake — the Canadian hitmaker has outsold every big name in his genre, including Tupac, Jay-Z and Eminem. He has music in his genes: his dad, Dennis Graham, was a drummer for the rock ’n ’roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis. In 2018, Drake broke every streaming record out there (including the first artist to ever reach 10 billion streams on Apple Music) and won the 2019 Best Rap Song Grammy for “God's Plan.”