List of best-selling albums in Turkey explained

The following is an independently list of best-selling albums in Turkey. This list can contain any types of album, including studio albums, extended plays, greatest hits, compilations, various artists, soundtracks and remixes. The figures given do not take into account the resale of used albums or illegal copies (including in some external reports).

To ensure the highest level of fact checking, sales figures are supported by reliable sources, for example: international music-related magazines such as Music & Media and Billboard, national newspapers or Turkish music organizations like Mü-Yap, an IFPI member which represents the music industry in the country. Other sales figures were provided by MESAM (from Turkish: Türkiye Musiki Eseri Sahipleri Meslek Birliği and in English: Musical Work Owners' Society of Turkey), a copyright collective music organization established in 1986. According to British ethnomusicologist Martin Stokes, the first efforts to establish official figures by MESAM took place in 1990.

Various albums sold more than 1 million in Turkey; while all records with the mark of half-million and above are by Turkish artists, few albums have gone on to sell more than a million copies since the 2000s according to Yeni Akit.[1] Meanwhile, Mü-Yap have awarded many domestic artists with a Diamond certification since the award inauguration in 2003, signifying certified units of 300,000. Although many of these albums reached slightly higher actual sales according to their yearly reports.

Numerous acts have several entries, with İbrahim Tatlıses, Tarkan and Sezen Aksu having the highest claims with at least one release reaching 3 million units across the nation. Furthermore, Tarkan is one of the few artists with a release with more than a million copies sold in the country in both 20th and 21st centuries. Additionally, his album Aacayipsin (1994) sold two million domestic copies, including 450,000 units in its first 10 days, and further 750,000 copies in Europe—making a first-time-ever feat for a Turkish performer. Allah Allah-Hülya (1987) by İbrahim Tatlıses became one of the fastest-selling albums to reach the million mark, in a lapse of one and a half month according to Milliyet.[2]

Best-selling albums

bgcolor=#F5F5F5 align=center
Studio albums
bgcolor=#E6F2FF align=centerExtended plays
bgcolor=#E0CEF2 align=centerGreatest hits and compilations

More than 1 million

YearArtistAlbumClaimed salesRef.
1985İbrahim Tatlıses3,200,000
3,100,000		[3]
[4]
1997TarkanÖlürüm Sana3,000,000
2,600,000		[5] [6]
1991Sezen AksuGülümse3,000,000
2,500,000		[7]
1990Coşkun Sabah2,800,000
2,700,000
1984Orhan Gencebay2,700,000
2,600,000
1999Barış Manço2,600,000[8]
1998Mahsun Kırmızıgül2,600,000
1994TarkanAacayipsin2,000,000[9] [10]
2003TarkanDudu1,500,000[11]
1994Mahsun Kırmızıgül12'den Vuracağım1,240,000[12]
1987İbrahim Tatlıses1,000,000
2001Hande YenerSen Yoluna... Ben Yoluma...1,000,000

Below 1 million (above 500,000)

YearArtistAlbumClaimed salesRef.
1989Sezen Aksu845,000
1989İbrahim Tatlısesİnsanlar800,000
1989İbrahim Tatlıses724,000
1992TarkanYine Sensiz700,000
600,000		[13]
[14]
2006İsmail YK540,000[15]

Best-selling albums by international artists

According to Pan-European music trade magazine Music & Media, Vuelve by Ricky Martin became the best-selling album by an international soloist in Turkey, with 180,000 copies sold as of June 1998. Other releases by international artists with major sales include Metallica and their self-titled album with 300,000 units, while Madonna has at least two albums with over 100,000 copies sold in Turkey (including Like a Prayer).[2] She also set a record for a foreign album when MDNA moved 30,000 units in just 4 days for which outsold domestic artists at that time.[16]

YearArtistAlbumClaimed salesRef.
1991MetallicaMetallica300,000[17]
1998Ricky MartinVuelve180,000[18]
1989MadonnaLike a Prayer151,000[19]
1986MadonnaTrue Blue100,000

Foreign albums certified by Mü-Yap

Since their certification program established in 2003, at least 8 albums by foreign artists have obtained Platinum or Gold certification from Mü-Yap, the national music certifying body founded in 2000.

Rel. yearArtistAlbumCertificationCertified salesYearRef.
2007Dany BrillantHistoire d'un amourGold5,0002008[20]
Pink MartiniHey Eugene!Platinum10,000
Shantel
Norah JonesNot Too Late
Rel. yearArtistAlbumCertificationCertified salesYearRef.
2008MetallicaDeath MagneticGold5,0002009[21]
ColdplayViva la Vida
MadonnaHard Candy
2006Amy WinehouseBack to Black

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hande Yener kimdir?. Yeni Akit. tr. June 8, 2021.
  2. News: Ekonomi Araştırma. Milliyet. September 17, 1987. February 26, 2021. 5. Turkish. February 26, 2021. live. https://archive.today/20210226084102/http://gazetearsivi.milliyet.com.tr/Ara.aspx?araKelime=Madonna%20ise%20100%20bin%20satt%C4%B1%20ve%20sat%C4%B1%C5%9F%C4%B1%20durdu.Tati%C4%B1ses%20Plak%20ve%20Kaset%C3%A7ilik%20%C5%9Eirketi%20m%C3%BCd%C3%BC&isAdv=false. subscription.
  3. Web site: Türk pop tarihinin en çok satan 6 albümü. Hürriyet. tr. July 3, 2017. June 7, 2021. April 12, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180412230206/https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/kelebek/keyif/turk-pop-tarihinin-en-cok-satan-6-albumu-40507900.
  4. Web site: Türkiye'de en çok satan albümler. Sözcü. tr. July 6, 2017. June 7, 2021. July 6, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170706120608/https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2017/ekonomi/turkiyede-en-cok-satan-albumler-1922041/.
  5. Book: Turkey. Gareth Stevens. Neriman. Kemal. Selina. Kuo. June 8, 2021. 45. 2001. 978-0836823417. In 1997, he released his third album, Ölürüm Sana (I'm Crazy About You), which sold over 3 million copies in Turkey.
  6. Web site: Tarkan ve Yılmaz Erdoğan gecesi. NTV.com.tr. tr. June 7, 2021.
  7. Web site: Sezen Aksu 'Gülümse' şarkısı için izin almamış. T24. tr. June 7, 2021. December 17, 2009. March 2, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180302070605/https://t24.com.tr/haber/sezen-aksu-gulumse-sarkisi-icin-izin-almamis,64468.
  8. Book: BARIŞ MANÇO. 38. En çok satan Albümü: Mart 1999'da piyasaya sürülen Mançoloji adlı albümü 2.6 milyon satılarak yılın en çok satılan albümü oldu.. Sarı . Eren . 18 July 2016 .
  9. Book: Turkey: A Lonely Planet Travel Survival Kit. Lonely Planet. June 8, 2021. 2009. Google Books. 60. His '94 album, A - acayipsin, sold over two million copies in Turkey.
  10. Web site: CULTURE-TURKEY: Pop Star's Sexuality Sparks Debate On National Values. Inter Press Service. June 8, 2021. April 26, 2001.
  11. Web site: Megastar Tarkan kardeşlerini ilk kez paylaştı – İşte Tarkan'ın kardeşleri. Hürriyet. June 8, 2021. January 1, 2020. tr. January 21, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200121160847/https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/kelebek/magazin/megastar-tarkan-kardeslerini-ilk-kez-paylasti-iste-tarkanin-kardesleri-41423414.
  12. Book: The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: The Middle East. 501. Routledge. Virginia. Danielson. Dwight. Reynolds. Scott. Marcus. June 8, 2021. 2017. 978-1351544177. The Turkish ministry of culture provided revealing figures for 1995 (Gu ̈nyeli 1996:8). The highest-selling cassette by far was Mahsun Kıˇrmıˇzıˇgu ̈l's ́ ̇ [Mahsun Kırmızıgül] arabesk hit “Tam 12den ...” [12'den Vuracağım] (1,247,000 copies), followed by Ibrahim Tatlises's ara-besk “Klasikler” (724,000 copies). The highest-selling pop cassette was Kayahan's (661,000).
  13. Web site: Turkish pop star Tarkan holds wedding reception in Germany. Hürriyet Daily News. June 8, 2021. May 7, 2016. July 13, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180713015337/https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-pop-star-tarkan-holds-wedding-reception-in-germany-98866.
  14. Global Music Pulse: Turkey. Adrian. Higgs. Billboard. 43. June 7, 2021. June 18, 1994. 106. 25.
  15. Web site: Best-selling 2006. tr. Mü-Yap. June 7, 2021. 2006. May 9, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090509050519/http://www.mu-yap.org:80/upload/aralik2006/ilk100album.xls.
  16. News: Türkiye'de rekorları altüst etti. Habertürk. tr. March 30, 2012. April 2, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120401211246/http://magazin.haberturk.com/muzik/haber/729567-turkiyede-rekorlari-altust-etti. April 1, 2012. dead.
  17. Web site: Metalcilere 'dört büyük' müjde. tr. Milliyet. March 3, 2021. Radikal. January 20, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20210303233946/https://www.milliyet.com.tr/kultur-sanat/metalcilere-dort-buyuk-mujde-1188525. March 3, 2021.
  18. Six Times Platinum in Turkey. Music & Media. American Radio History. 15. 16. 4. June 27, 1998. January 11, 2020.
  19. Book: Stokes, Martin. Why Cry? Sezen Aksu's Diva Citizenship. The Republic of Love: Cultural Intimacy in Turkish Popular Music. 4. Martin Stokes. 978-0-2267-7506-7. 2010. University of Chicago Press. PDF — version. 112. The first efforts to establish official figures by MESAM [from Turkish: Türkiye Musiki Eseri Sahipleri Meslek Birliği] (a music industry organization established primarily to lobby for firmer copyright control) took place in 1990. Dilmener reproduces a list of sales from Boom that confirm the kinds of figures I would hear in Unkapanı in candid conversations with producers and small company owners. [...] By way of comparison, İbrahim Tatlıses' İnsanlar had sold 800,000 while Madonna's Like a Prayer had sold 151,000 (Dilmener 2003, p. 349)..
  20. Web site: 2008 MÜ-YAP MÜZİK ENDÜSTRİSİ ÖDÜLLERİ. tr. Mü-Yap. June 7, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20111109192746/http://www.mu-yap.org/getdata.asp?PID=269. November 9, 2011.
  21. Web site: 2009 MÜ-YAP MÜZİK ENDÜSTRİSİ ÖDÜLLERİ. tr. Mü-Yap. June 7, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20120205181156/http://www.mu-yap.org/news.asp?NID=279. February 5, 2012.

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