Adele's 21 album smashes Modern Warfare 3 in 2011 sales

NewsPublish Date 12/01/2012 - 12:23pm GMT

The singer's record sold around the same total as Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 combined.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 screenshot

English singer-songwriter Adele's second studio album 21 was the UK's biggest entertainment property in terms of units sold, according to an entertainment chart published by ERA, via MCV.

21 shifted a massive 3,924,985 copies in 2011, compared to 2,814,609 copies of Modern Warfare 3 and 1,186,895 copies of Battlefield 3.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 does, however, remain No.1 in revenue - the game costs around four/five times that of Adele's album.

The Top 40 selling products of 2011 generated sales of 48.2 million units, which represents a 1.5 per cent rise over 2010's biggest sellers. Nineteen titles sold over one million copies, compared to 18 in 2010.

1. - 21 - Adele - 3,924,985 - Album
2. - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - 2,814,609 - Game
3. - Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows – Part 1 - 2,532,551 - Video
4. - FIFA 12 - 2,193,302 - Game
5. - Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 - 2,147,606 - Video
6. - The Inbetweeners Movie - 2,074,652 - Video
7. - The King’s Speech - 1,882,175 - Video
8. - Christmas - Michael Buble - 1,349,195 - Album
9. - Doo-Wops & Hooligans - Bruno Mars - 1,264,763 - Album
10. - 19 - Adele - 1,264,273 - Album
11. - Battlefield 3 - 1,186,895 - Game
12. - Now That’s What I Call Music 80 - Various Artists - 1,185,431 - Album
13. - Despicable Me - 1,157,197 - Video
14. - Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides - 1,111,715 - Video
15. - Paul - 1,108,851 - Video
16. - Zumba Fitness - 1,077,508 - Game
17. - Tangled - 1,043,857 - Video
18. - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - 1,024,228 - Game
19. - Peter Kay – Live – The Tour That Didn’t Tour - 1,004,099 - Video
20. - Bridesmaids - 979,475 - Video
21. - Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay - 943,498 - Album
22. - Transformers - Dark of the Moon - 935,693 - Video
23. - Loud - Rihanna - 910,455 - Album
24. - The Hangover 2 - 904,351 - Video
25. - Now That’s What I Call Music 79 - Various Artists - 896,831 - Album
26. - Lee Evans - Roadrunner - Live at the O2 - 875,573 - Video
27. - Born This Way - Lady Gaga - 854,524 - Album
28. - Who You Are - Jessie J - 837,475 - Album
29. - + - Ed Sheeran - 821,180 - Album
30. - Just Dance 3 - 820,333 - Game
31. - Inception - 735,458 - Video
32. - Assassin’s Creed: Revelations - 732,566 - Game
33. - The Hangover - 730,273 - Video
34. - Gnomeo & Juliet - 725,816 - Video
35. - Due Date - 712,330 - Video
36. - Mrs Brown’s Boys - Series One - 705,085 - Video
37. - Now That’s What I Call Music 78 - Various Artists - 686,511 - Album
38. - Talk That Talk - Rihanna - 683,834 - Album
39. - Taken - 670,913 - Video
40. - Rise of the Planet of the Apes - 670,192 - Video

VideoGamer.com Analysis

There is, however, a major flaw in the chart; game sales count retail units only, whereas the music data includes CDs and digital sales.

Comments

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User Comments

Clockpunk

Meh, not worth getting into a cultural dissection/discussion with you here. So long as people have fun...

I would be interested in trying to find the gross entertainment value index for the 2 different mediums, however... but then, that is secondary (at the very least) to generated revenue for these companies.

Posted 21:50 on 15 January 2012

pblive

But Adele is pretty much the opposite of manufactured pop in that genre, she doesn't fit the usual stereotype and can actually sing and write music.

It's just the same old excuse wheeled out when people do well.

Posted 19:16 on 15 January 2012

*blink* ... *blink* ...

And some people still try to argue, in the face of all such evidence, that society isn't guided by inane manufactured media-darling fads...

Posted 16:48 on 15 January 2012