The song-downloading era was short and the rise of streaming put it to a quick end. However, millions were made and influences were executed, showing, who was on everybody’s mind back then. And yes, Eminem has left his mark on that era.
Chartmasters.org celebrate the 20th anniversary of iTunes by outlining the story of digital song sales – from ringtones to downloading songs to total dominance of streaming services. In the early 2000s, the RIAA started tracking digital sales marking 100,000 and 200,000 units sold by Gold and Platinum awards respectively. In 2005, Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” became the first song in history to hit 1 million digital sales. More and more people started seeing this format as a viable alternative to physical copies. Starting from 2009 digital downloads market went global to reach the peak of profitability between 2011 and 2012 and went into decline in 2013. Chartmasters.org see 2015 as the end of the era, and the numbers show that this assessment is plausible.
The platform compiled the list of 20 best selling downloadables in history.
Most downloaded songs of all time:
1. LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock – Party Rock Anthem [2011] – 20,950,000
2. Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera – Moves Like Jagger [2011] – 20,790,000
3. Adele – Rolling In The Deep [2010] – 20,680,000
4. Jason Mraz – I’m Yours [2008] – 19,670,000
5. Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling [2009] – 19,470,000
6. Lady Gaga – Poker Face [2009] – 19,300,000
7. Eminem ft. Rihanna – Love the Way You Lie [2010] – 18,890,000
8. Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe [2011] – 18,490,000
9. Kesha – Tik Tok [2009] – 17,410,000
10. Pharrell Williams – Happy [2014] – 17,270,000
11. Adele – Someone Like You [2011] – 17,240,000
12. Bruno Mars – Just the Way You Are [2010] – 17,030,000
13. PSY – Gangnam Style [2012] – 16,850,000
14. Various Artists – Let It Go [2014] – 16,350,000
15. Flo Rida ft. T-Pain – Low [2007] – 16,330,000
16. Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk [2014] – 16,310,000
17. Eminem – Lose Yourself [2002] – 15,480,000
18. Robin Thicke ft. Pharrell & T.I. – Blurred Lines [2013] – 15,190,000
19. Gotye ft. Kimbra – Somebody That I Used to Know [2011] – 15,110,000
20. Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow [2009] – 15,010,000
You can notice that there are several artists who contributed to this list not one, but two songs. Only five acts have managed to do so: Adele, Black Eyed Peas, Bruno Mars, Pharrell, and Eminem.
Also, Chartmasters.org breaks “Love the Way You Lie” sales numbers by country. The track was the top selling song released that year and moved 18.89 million copies globally. The most were sold in the US (8.93 million), South Korea (3.35 million) and the UK (1.29 million).
You can read the full analysis on the website.
