Special Report

Artists Who Sold the Most Songs Online

In the age of streaming and digital file storage, playing your favorite song is just a click away. In stark contrast to the sale of physical music products, online music releases can be made instantly available — to be enjoyed and shared by fans around the world.

24/7 Tempo reviewed the current 30 best-selling artists for digital singles from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). For context, sales data on digital singles has been collected by the RIAA since 2004 and there are 422 artists with at least 5 million certified units in the category. We included a popular single for each artist using Billboard Hot 100 chart data. All data is as of January 2022.

Click here to see the all time best selling artists for digital singles

There’s nothing like a good lyric or beat to escape into. From Kanye West’s “Heartless” (once played in every dance club back in the day) to the house party worthy retro beats of The Weeknd’s “Blinding lights,” there’s a song for everyone on this list. 

There are even heartfelt, modern love songs like Sam Smith’s “Stay with me.” Some may say this list captures our current times and is as worthy a listen as some of Elvis’s most popular songs of his time. Click here to see the most popular Elvis Presley songs. 

2021 has been an increasingly big year for a few of the artists on this list reinforcing their drive and current relevance. For example, Drake’s WIN of the “Top Streaming Songs Artist” award and Lady Gaga’s WIN of the “Top Dance/Electronic Artist” award at the 2021 Billboard music Awards.

Moreover in the continuing pandemic, some artists like Ed Sheeran (who contracted Covid-19 last year), persevered with home performances and a new album release in the fall of 2021.

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