List of best-selling girl groups
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A
girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...
is a
popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
act featuring several female singers who generally
harmonize In music, harmonization is the chordal accompaniment to a line or melody: "Using chords and melodies together, making harmony by stacking scale tones as triads". A harmonized scale can be created by using each note of a musical scale as a ...
together. Girl groups have been popular at least since the heyday of the Boswell Sisters beginning in the 1930s, but the term "girl group" also denotes the wave of American female pop singing groups who flourished in the late 1950s and early 1960s between the decline of early rock and roll and the
British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on b ...
, many of whom were influenced by
doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...
style. This article covers only girl groups from that era and later. Sales figures records in most countries are not available before the 1990s, so it is difficult to accurately determine best-selling records, either by country or worldwide. Certification levels have been used for most countries, but certification was not common until the 1970s in the US and UK, and later in other countries. In addition, in many countries certification is for shipments of a record to retailers, rather than actual sales. Complicating matters further, the changes from 2010 onwards as certifications have become based on combined sales figures and streaming instead of sales alone. As a result, these tables should not be considered finalized of the best-selling records by girl groups in each country.


Best-selling girl groups worldwide

Groups with claimed total record sales of more than 20 million:


Best-selling girl group singles


Worldwide

It is extremely difficult to assess worldwide sales of singles, due to the lack of auditing in many countries, and that no country officially tracked sales before the 1990s. In the second edition of ''The Book of Golden Discs'', author Joseph Murrell calculated a worldwide sales figure of 18 million singles for
Baccara Baccara was a female vocal duo formed in 1977 by Spanish artists Mayte Mateos (born 7 February 1951) and María Mendiola (4 April 1952 – 11 September 2021). The duo rapidly achieved international success with their debut single "Yes Sir, I Ca ...
's "
Yes Sir, I Can Boogie "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" is a 1977 hit single by the Spanish vocal duo Baccara. Written by Frank Dostal and Rolf Soja, and produced by Soja, this song was a hit across Europe and became the duo's sole number one single in the United Kingdom, spendi ...
", but this figure is disputed and has never been officially confirmed. Other claimed worldwide sales figures for singles by girl groups are shown in the table below: Notes:


Australia

Singles certified platinum or more by the
Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...
(ARIA). Only includes certifications since 1989, when ARIA took over compiling the Australian charts. From November 2014 onwards paid-for audio streams were included in the Australian singles chart and counted towards sales and certifications. Certifications based on sales only Certifications based on sales + on-demand digital streaming


France

Singles certified diamond (750,000 sales) based on sales only Singles certified gold (250,000 sales) based on sales only Certifications based on sales + on-demand digital streaming


Germany

Certifications based on sales only Certifications based on sales + on-demand digital streaming *Note: Certification levels in Germany have changed several times over the years – the certification level for a gold single was 250,000 until the end of 2002, 150,000 between 2003 and mid-2014, and 200,000 from mid-2014 onwards. These different levels are reflected in the table above. *From January 2014 onwards, paid-for audio streams were included in the German singles chart and counted towards sales and certifications.


Japan

The ten biggest-selling girl group singles in Japan based on total sales (May 2020): *From January 2014, RIAJ changed calculation method for Detailed Sales and the Gold Record.


New Zealand

Singles certified platinum or more by
Recorded Music NZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded Mus ...
. Since November 2014 certifications for singles have included streaming, and therefore cannot be compared to certifications from before this date. Certifications based on sales only Certifications based on sales + on-demand digital streaming


South Korea

The
Circle Digital Chart The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based on ...
, a component of the
Circle Chart The Circle Chart (), previously known as the Gaon Music Chart or the Gaon Chart (), tabulates the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in South Korea. It is produced by the Korea Music Content Association and sponsored by South Korea's ...
, released download sales from its launch in 2010 until 2017, and began a certification scheme in 2018. Prior to the establishment of the Circle Music Chart, the country's music charts were supplied by the Music Industry Association of Korea (MIAK), which did not track digital single downloads.


Prior to certification (2010–2017)

South Korea experienced a decline in digital music sales volume which began in late 2012. The price of digital downloads was greatly inflated, and as a result, no girl group songs released since 2013 have surpassed the three million sales mark.


After certification (2018–present)

The Circle Chart stopped releasing download sales in December 2017. However, the chart began implementing record certifications in April 2018, at a level of 2,500,000 sales per Platinum level. Every song released since 1 January 2018 is eligible for a certification.


Sweden

There were few certifications awarded in Sweden before 1996, so singles before this date are not represented in this list. There have been three different certification levels since 1996: from 1996 to June 2003 the gold/platinum levels for singles were 15,000/30,000, from July 2003 to September 2010 the levels were 10,000/20,000, and from October 2010 onwards, when streaming was included in the certification levels, the levels have been 20,000/40,000. The tables below reflect these changes in certification levels. Certifications based on sales only Certifications based on sales + on-demand digital streaming


Switzerland


United Kingdom

Since July 2014, certifications have included audio streams so they cannot be compared to sales-only certifications before this date. The ten biggest-selling girl group singles in the United Kingdom: Physical and digital sales only (before July 2014) Physical and digital sales + on-demand digital streaming (after July 2014)


United States

Sales figures of records in the US were not tracked accurately until May 1991, when
Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
started recording sales of singles and albums electronically at point of sale, rather than relying on figures provided to them by record store staff. As a result, there are no reliable sales figures available before this date, and therefore it is not possible to rank the best-selling singles by girl groups in the US in sales order. Since 2013 certifications have included legal on-demand digital streams – separate figures for the pure sales component of singles released after 2013 are not available so they cannot be compared to sales-only certifications before this date. Certifications based on sales only RIAA sales certifications began in the US in 1958 – there are very few records with certifications before this date. Until 1988 a million-seller received a gold certification (and a two million-seller received a platinum certification). From 1989 onwards the levels were revised so that a million-seller received a platinum certification instead, with multi-platinum awards for multiple million sales. However, these pre- and post-1989 certification levels are not currently reflected in the RIAA database. The following singles have been certified by RIAA as selling one million copies or more in the US. In addition, the following singles have been stated as selling one million copies or more in the US – however, they have not been certified by the RIAA. Certifications based on sales + on-demand digital streaming


Best-selling girl group albums


Worldwide


Australia

Albums certified platinum or more by
ARIA In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...
. Only includes certifications since 1990.


Brazil

Based on certifications awarded by
Pro-Música Brasil Pro-Música Brasil (PMB), previously Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos (ABPD) (English: Brazilian Association of Record Producers), is an official representative body of the record labels in the Brazilian phonographic market. Hi ...
. Certifications have only been awarded since 1990, so there is no sales information before this date. Some of the certification thresholds have changed over time.


Canada

Certifications according to
Music Canada Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It a ...
.


Europe

Albums certified platinum or more for more than one million sales in Europe, according to the
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 19 ...
. Note: the IFPI Europe Platinum Award was only created in 1996, therefore there are few albums on this list from before that date. No awards are publicly available after 2014.


France

Certifications according to SNEP.


Germany

Certifications according to the
BVMI The Bundesverband Musikindustrie (English: Federal Music Industry Association), or simply BVMI, represents the music industry in Germany. The association represents the interests of nearly 280 labels and music industry related enterprises, which ...
.


Japan

Sales according to Oricon and Platinum certifications according to the
RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include p ...
. The ten biggest-selling girl group albums in Japan:


Netherlands

Certifications according to the
NVPI NVPI (Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld - en geluidsdragers) ( en, The Dutch Association of Producers and Importers of image - and sound carriers) is the Dutch trade association of the entertainment industry. The NVPI ...
.


New Zealand


South Korea

Sales of albums released after 2010 are according to the
Circle Album Chart The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Korea based on their pure sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart, previously know ...
published monthly and yearly with detailed album sales by the
Korea Music Content Association The Circle Chart (), previously known as the Gaon Music Chart or the Gaon Chart (), tabulates the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in South Korea. It is produced by the Korea Music Content Association and sponsored by South Korea's ...
(KMCA). Sales of albums released before 2010 are based on data collected by Music Industry Association of Korea (from 1999 to 2007) or claimed sales based on reliable sources. The ten biggest-selling girl group albums in South Korea:


Switzerland

Certifications according to the
IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 19 ...
.


Taiwan


United Kingdom

Albums certified triple platinum or more by the BPI.


United States

Albums certified platinum or more by the
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
. The sales figures shown for the quadruple and triple platinum albums are sales recorded by
Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
plus known sales from BMG's Music Club. These do not represent the total sales of the album in the US as they exclude unknown sales figures from
Columbia House Columbia House was an umbrella brand for Columbia Records' mail-order music clubs, the primary iteration of which was the Columbia Record Club, established in 1955. The Columbia House brand was introduced in the early 1970s by Columbia Records ...
and other music clubs.


See also

* List of best-selling boy bands *
List of best-selling music artists The following list of best-selling music artists includes those music acts from the 20th century to the present with claims of 75 million or more record sales worldwide. This information cannot be listed officially, as there is no organization t ...
*
List of best-selling singles This is a compendium of the best-selling music singles. The criterion for inclusion is to sell at least ten million copies worldwide. The singles listed here were cited by reliable sources from various media, such as digital journalism, news ...
*
List of best-selling albums This is a list of the world's best-selling albums of recorded music. To appear on the list, the figure must have been published by a reliable source and the album must have sold at least 20 million copies. This list can contain any types of al ...
*
List of girl groups This is a list of girl groups of all musical genres. Girl groups are musical groups that only contain female vocalists. This is distinct from all-female bands, wherein the members themselves perform the instrumental components of the music (see ...


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best-selling girl groups, List
Girl groups A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.c ...
* Lists of musicians Lists of women in music