American singer Britney Spears has released nine studio albums, eight compilation albums, nine box sets, three extended plays (EPs), 50 singles, 11 promotional singles, two charity singles, and has made three guest appearances. In 1997, Spears signed a recording contract with American record label Jive Records in order to launch her career.
The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) or Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when major corporate labels left the previously existing Associazione dei Fonografici Italiani (AFI). During the following years, most of the remaining Italian record labels left AFI to join the new organisation. As of 2011, FIMI represents 2,500 companies operating in the music business.
Irish boy band Westlife have released twelve studio albums, sixteen video albums, one live album, three karaoke albums, thirty-eight singles, twenty-one promotional singles, nine compilation albums and fifty-four music videos. Formed on 3 July 1998, the group was made up of singers Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden. The band was signed under Simon Cowell, Clive Davis, and Jordan Jay and under record labels' BMG, S Records, Arista Records, Sony BMG, Syco Music, Sony Music Entertainment and RCA Records from 1998 to 2012 and currently on Universal Music Group and Virgin EMI Records from 2018. The last four members remained active until their last live concert performance in the Europe's third largest stadium Croke Park on 23 June 2012 and have reunited on 3 October 2018 for new music and tour. Based on the British Phonographic Industry certifications, the group have sold more than 26 million records and videos in the United Kingdom alone across their 20-year career–12.8 million singles, 13.5 million albums and 1.3 million videos. Their biggest selling album is their first Greatest Hits compilation, followed by Coast to Coast, with seven of their albums selling one million copies or more. Their biggest selling video is "Where Dreams Come True", which has sold 240,000 copies to date.
The discography of American singer and songwriter Justin Timberlake consists of six studio albums, two compilation albums, three extended plays, and 51 singles. Timberlake started his music career in 1995, as a member of boy band NSYNC. Following the group's hiatus in 2002, he released his solo debut studio album, Justified, in November that same year. The album was a commercial success and peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart and additionally topped the charts in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Justified earned multiple multi-platinum certifications, including a triple platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and a sextuple platinum certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). It produced four singles: "Like I Love You", "Cry Me a River", "Rock Your Body" and "Señorita"; all performed well commercially, with two of them becoming top 5 hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and top two hits on the UK Singles Chart. "Rock Your Body" also reached number one in Australia.
"Take a Bow" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna for Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded (2008), the re-release of her third studio album Good Girl Gone Bad (2007). The song was written and produced by Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel Eriksen, and Shaffer Smith under their stage names StarGate and Ne-Yo. "Take a Bow" was released as the first single on April 15, 2008, from the re-release and the fifth single overall from the two releases. It is an R&B song that contains elements of dance-pop. Critical reception of "Take a Bow" was mixed, with some critics praising the song's lyrics and powerful balladry, while others criticized StarGate's production as unoriginal.
English singer-songwriter Adele has released four studio albums, one video album, two extended plays, 17 singles and eleven music videos. Adele has sold over 70 million in pure album sales and over 100 million in album equivalent units worldwide over four studio albums and one video album as of December 2021. She was named the best-selling album artist of the 2010s decade in the US and worldwide. She has also sold over 100 million in single sales with total sales records over 170 million as of December 2021. She also became the best-selling female artist of the 21st century in the UK. Her album 21 became the best-selling album of the 21st century.
American singer Katy Perry has released six studio albums, seven extended plays (EP), 39 singles, and 11 promotional singles. According to Recording Industry Association of America, Perry has sold 109.5 million digital singles and 17 million albums in the United States. She is also the sixth best-selling digital singles artist in the United States. Throughout her career, Perry has sold 48 million album units and 135 million singles worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Billboard listed her as the fourth top female artist of the 2010s decade and the 61st greatest artist of all time. Perry has scored nine number one songs on Billboard Hot 100 and three number one albums on Billboard 200.
"Impossible" is a song by Barbadian singer Shontelle. It is the lead single from her second studio album, No Gravity (2010). The song was written by Arnthor Birgisson and Ina Wroldsen, and produced by Birgisson. It was released digitally on February 9, 2010. "Impossible" peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, number 33 in Canada, number nine in the United Kingdom and number five in Denmark.
"Rolling in the Deep" is a song by English singer-songwriter Adele from her second studio album, 21 (2011). It is the lead single and opening track on the album. The song was written by Adele and Paul Epworth. The singer herself describes it as a "dark blues-y gospel disco tune". In 2011, it was reportedly the biggest crossover hit in the United States since 1985; "Rolling in the Deep" gained radio airplay from many different radio formats. It was first released on 29 November 2010 as the lead single from 21 in digital download format. The lyrics describe the emotions of a scorned lover.
"Set Fire to the Rain" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her second studio album, 21 (2011). The song was written by Adele and Fraser T. Smith while the production was handled by the latter. It became Adele's third consecutive US number-one single from 21 and reached the top ten in most of other foreign markets. It is a Pop power ballad with lush instrumentation and a swelling string arrangement, in contrast to the understated production of most songs on the album. The song has received acclaim from various critics with many complimenting on Adele's vocals. "Set Fire to the Rain" was voted by readers of Billboard as their favorite number one hit of 2012. Though no official music video was released for the song, a live performance from the DVD Live at the Royal Albert Hall was uploaded to video-sharing website YouTube. This rendition won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards.
"Beneath Your Beautiful" is a song by British musicians Labrinth and Emeli Sandé. Written by Labrinth, Mike Posner and Sandé, it was promoted as the sixth single from Labrinth's debut album, Electronic Earth (2012), and is included as a bonus track on the US Deluxe Edition of Sandé's debut studio album Our Version of Events. Impacting from 18 October 2012, and following a well-received performance on the ninth series of The X Factor, the single would go on to sell 108,000 copies in the UK during its first week and top the UK Singles Chart. It became Labrinth's first number one single as a lead artist and additionally became his first top 40 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 34. The song was nominated for 'Best British Single' at the 2013 Brit Awards and was ranked the twelfth best-selling single of 2012 in the UK.
"Timber" is a song by American rapper Pitbull featuring American singer Kesha. The song was released on October 7, 2013, as the lead single from Pitbull's extended play (EP) Meltdown. The song was produced by Dr. Luke, Cirkut, and Sermstyle, with additional production by Nick Seeley. The song interpolates Lee Oskar's 1978 single "San Francisco Bay" and features harmonica player Paul Harrington, who plays through the entire song and was told to emulate Oskar.
"Shape of You" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released on 6 January 2017 as one of the double lead singles from his third studio album ÷ (2017), along with "Castle on the Hill". The dancehall and R&B-infused pop song was written by Sheeran, Steve Mac and Johnny McDaid. Due to its interpolation of "No Scrubs" by TLC, Kandi Burruss, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, and Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs are also credited as writers. The song was produced by Sheeran and Mac.
"Believer" is a song by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons. The song was released on February 1, 2017, through Interscope Records and Kidinakorner as the lead single from the band's third studio album, Evolve (2017). It was written by Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee, Daniel Platzman, Justin Tranter and its producers Mattman & Robin.
"Something Just Like This" is a song by American electronic music duo The Chainsmokers and British rock band Coldplay. It was released on February 22, 2017 as the second single from the former's debut album Memories...Do Not Open and as the lead single of the latter's Kaleidoscope EP.
"Thunder" is a song by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons. It was released by Interscope Records and Kidinakorner on April 27, 2017, as the second single from their third studio album, Evolve (2017). Written by band members Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee, Daniel Platzman, and its producers Alex Da Kid and Jayson DeZuzio, "Thunder" peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song became the band's fourth single in that country to reach the top ten after "Radioactive", "Demons" and "Believer". It also reached the top 10 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
The Global Recording Artist of the Year is an award presented by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) to honor the year's commercially best-performing musician, based on global album-equivalent units earned, which includes music downloads, streaming and physical sales. It has been awarded every year since January 2014, starting with the British boy band One Direction, who won the accolade for 2013. American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is the biggest winner of the accolade, having won four times—in 2014, 2019, 2022, and 2023.
