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Who's more successful? Janet or Britney?

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ASIS

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and by successful I mean strictly commercial success. We all know who's more talented but I read in wikipedia that Janet is the 11th best selling female artist in america, while britney is actually the 8th... Is it really possible for britney to be more successful than janet?
 
In America, yeah I can see Britney outselling Janet - purely because for many years she was the sweet, innocent, (white)girl next door. That's a huge selling point right from the start, whereas Janet's fan base and sales grew gradually.

But that said! Wikipedia might be wrong about sales :) You never know.
 
Are you kidding?
Janet is way bigger than Britney in America. Even now imo. Britney's sales have already dwindled to an embarrasing level, when Janet was 10 years in to her career she was selling millions (in fact was even bigger than madonna).
Not to mention that Janet has had 10 no.1s, Britney has had only 3.
Janet has a much wider market base to target, her music is more mature, varied and still commercial.
 
Moogisland said:
Are you kidding?
Janet is way bigger than Britney in America. Even now imo. Britney's sales have already dwindled to an embarrasing level
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You can thank illegal downloading for that. And actually, Britney is doing far better in the US than Janet is right now.

Janet's 2001 album 'All For You' US sales - 3,105,000
Britney's 2001 album 'Britney' US sales - 4,336,000

Janet's 2008 album 'Discipline' US sales - 500,000 (at a stretch)
Britney's 2008 album 'Circus' US sales - 1,615,000+

Janet's sales have been plummeting since The Velvet Rope. All the explicit songs are putting her original fanbase off.
 
Who has sold more albums?
Who has more hits?
Who has more awards?
Who is worth more?


Janet.
 
Adore said:
You can thank illegal downloading for that. And actually, Britney is doing far better in the US than Janet is right now.

Janet's 2001 album 'All For You' US sales - 3,105,000
Britney's 2001 album 'Britney' US sales - 4,336,000

Janet's 2008 album 'Discipline' US sales - 500,000 (at a stretch)
Britney's 2008 album 'Circus' US sales - 1,615,000+

Janet's sales have been plummeting since The Velvet Rope. All the explicit songs are putting her original fanbase off.
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Comparing sales of an artist who is past their prime to someone who is in their prime isn't good logic.
 
Lonely17 said:
Comparing sales of an artist who is past their prime to someone who is in their prime isn't good logic.
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Comparing someone who's been in the business 17 years longer than the other one isn't good logic - Janet had 7 of her #1's before Britney even came into the business.
Janet starting her record career 1 year after Britney was born.

It's almost like you guys think that Britney had her career served on a silver plate without any hard work behind it - I've been to one of her shows, she works for the money.
 
Lonely17 said:
Comparing sales of an artist who is past their prime to someone who is in their prime isn't good logic.
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Yes.
Janet's peak was in the 90's when nobody hadn't even heard about Britney.
So maybe Britney is more succesful at the moment but it doesn't tell anything.
 
Lonely17 said:
Comparing sales of an artist who is past their prime to someone who is in their prime isn't good logic.
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And yet that is the entire point of this thread. It says so in the first post. So you can thank the OP for that.
 
BruceWayne said:
Comparing someone who's been in the business 17 years longer than the other one isn't good logic - Janet had 7 of her #1's before Britney even came into the business.
Janet starting her record career 1 year after Britney was born.

It's almost like you guys think that Britney had her career served on a silver plate without any hard work behind it - I've been to one of her shows, she works for the money.
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Again, comparing someone who was coming down from their peak, to someone who was on the rise isn't good logic. At any rate, Janet at 28 > Britney at 28. Janet, overall, is more successful. She's only second to Madonna for females.
 
Lonely17 said:
Who is worth more?

Janet.
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And I'm not convinced on this one. With all the big name endorsements and products out there with Britney's name on, it must be at least even. But sure Janet has had more #1 albums. That's largely due to the fact that she's had more albums, period.

And also, Janet is not 2nd to Madonna in female sales. You seem to be forgetting about Mariah Carey.
 
Lonely17 said:
Well based on commercial success, it's Janet.
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Not in recent years. I love Janet but her fans can delude themselves sometimes. Her sales have been plummeting, and fast. People just aren't that interested in her anymore. Especially since the Superbowl incident, she lost a lot of credibility in people's eyes. I know plenty of people who know and love Janet. or The Velvet Rope, but they don't give a crap about 20 Y.O.
Britney's latest single just went #1 in the US just on radio airplay alone. It hasn't even been released yet. Where is Make Me's debut? :unsure: And with all the extra publicity and interest from Michael's death? People expect much more from Janet. She gave us songs like The Knowledge and Rhythm Nation. That's what people who grew up listening to her know and love her for best. Britney on the other hand has never been known for those types of songs, she's just expanding on stuff she's done since the beginning of her career, so she is not really losing that many fans as opposed to gaining them. That, IMO, is why Janet's sales are dropping. Her old fans aren't into her over the top explicit stuff. They miss the old Janet. And so do I.
 
this is very subjective..it's hard to tell...figures can be skewed. and a lot of info is hidden, and a lot of what we see is political.
 
I think people need to look at the facts and stick to reality when it comes to Janet Jackson. Yes you may like her, you may even LOVE her, but she does not apeal to audiences outside of the U.S and she's losing her fans here at home as well which is sad. Obviously I can only base my opinion on what I've seen in terms of her sales, and her sales for the last couple of years have been horrible.

And Britney's been in the game for over 10 years and has had some of the most horrible and humiliating press (so much more then Janet's ONE incident with the superbowl) and she still manages to outsell her so don't talk like she's some newbie.
 
Janet is obviously more talented but Britney has sold more albums in the US and is most certainly a bigger star currently. All Janet really has these days is nostalgia and that's oh so sad. Her career has been DOA for most of the decade. We rarely hear about Janet in the news or see her on the charts. Sure, both ladies are from different eras but if we go based solely on current commercial success, Britney wins hands down (despite the terrible music climate all artists have been suffering for years now). That actually speaks even more so for Britney. She's had a terrible time in the media for years now and rises like a phoenix. Britney really has had a terrible time. People have been terribly unkind to her from very early on. Even so, she has sold 80+ million worldwide and that's really impressive (again, given the music climate that's really impressive). However, having said all of that, Janet is the most successful over all despite her current lack of a music career for she has sold over 100+ million albums worldwide.

So, it's Janet overall.
 
Travis said:
Janet is obviously more talented but Britney has sold more albums in the US and is most certainly a bigger star currently. All Janet really has these days is nostalgia and that's oh so sad. Her career has been DOA for most of the decade. We rarely hear about Janet in the news or see her on the charts. Sure, both ladies are from different eras but if we go based solely on current commercial success, Britney wins hands down (despite the terrible music climate all artists have been suffering for years now). That actually speaks even more so for Britney. She's had a terrible time in the media for years now and rises like a phoenix. Britney really has had a terrible time. People have been terribly unkind to her from very early on. Even so, she has sold 80+ million worldwide and that's really impressive (again, given the music climate that's really impressive). However, having said all of that, Janet is the most successful over all despite her current lack of a music career for she has sold over 100+ million albums worldwide.

So, it's Janet overall.
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the good thing about this post is you revealed that having quite time is not to be mistaken for lack of success. some people think that the only way a person is popular is if they're currently being heard on the radio. that's a big mistake so many people made with Michael. indeed..we don't hear Janet, but i'm sure Janet's not starving.

and as we heard with TLC...you can be all over the radio, and still on your way to bankruptcy.

so...it LOOKS like Britney's doing better...but, indeed, looks can be deceiving. i'm not saying Britney's starving, either, though..i've seen her riding around in Mercedes..
 
Adore said:
And yet that is the entire point of this thread. It says so in the first post. So you can thank the OP for that.
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hey don't hate me! lol :p

But yeah it really is interesting. I never thought britney could even manage to compete against janet let alone beat her.

But yeah I am not talking about critical reception AT ALL! This thread is purely based on sales, sales, and even more sales!
 
Travis said:
Janet is obviously more talented but Britney has sold more albums in the US and is most certainly a bigger star currently. All Janet really has these days is nostalgia and that's oh so sad. Her career has been DOA for most of the decade. We rarely hear about Janet in the news or see her on the charts. Sure, both ladies are from different eras but if we go based solely on current commercial success, Britney wins hands down (despite the terrible music climate all artists have been suffering for years now). That actually speaks even more so for Britney. She's had a terrible time in the media for years now and rises like a phoenix. Britney really has had a terrible time. People have been terribly unkind to her from very early on. Even so, she has sold 80+ million worldwide and that's really impressive (again, given the music climate that's really impressive). However, having said all of that, Janet is the most successful over all despite her current lack of a music career for she has sold over 100+ million albums worldwide.

So, it's Janet overall.
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I see. Thanks for clearing that up :)
 
Janet has sold around 100+ million records worldwide. Britney has sold around 90+ Britney will surpass her soon.
 
"quiet time" is not what janet was trying to have these past couple of years, please, she put out 3 albums which all flopped, she was trying to have a career. She certainly is not staring, but I can bet she would love to be out there right now.
 
babykinsilk05 said:
"quiet time" is not what janet was trying to have these past couple of years, please, she put out 3 albums which all flopped, she was trying to have a career. She certainly is not staring, but I can bet she would love to be out there right now.
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I agree and yes eventually Britney will pass Janet but that doesn't take away from what she has accomplished.

Janet has tried very hard to be successful but it doesn't seem that anyone cares. Her fans blame it on the Superbowl but I don't buy that at all. Maybe, initially, it was a problem but I don't believe for a second that it had a long term effect on her career, etc. Controversy more often than not usually helps an album sell and even though it possibly did hurt her image at first the incident was forgotten by the time she released her 2nd and third album after the initial shenanigan. Some fans say she was banned or this or that but those theories really don't hold up. I find it to be more of an excuse (a way that Janet and her fans don't have to take accountability or face the music, so to speak).

It's not at all like with Michael, who purposely wasn't releasing new albums but instead spending actual "quiet time" with his family. Janet was out there husslin' but there wasn't anyone paying attention. Actually, she was releasing more material more frequently with less and less success. With Janet, I find that there is a real lack of interest in her music.

I know the hardcore fans don't want to hear that and for that I'm sorry. I simply don't see how anyone can genuinely argue anything other than the general public's interest in her has dried up. You can only play the Superbowl violin for so long before it too loses credibility.

Janet needs a new sound and direction. Her music from the last decade is interchangeable and that's the problem. It's played out.

P.S. This is coming from a Janet fan (believe it or not... I don't care). I'm just keeping it real.
 
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I'll just say.....People will buy anything nowadays, and everything is "real music" nowadays..
 
Travis you brought out some really good points about Janet's current status in the industry right now.

Okay, please dont bash me. I like Janet... How can I hate Mike's sister?

This is just constructive criticism. My pet peeve with Janet is when she 'whispers' in a song. I mean, I dont really understand what she's saying cause Janet has a really soft voice- melodic but soft. Plus, when I was listening to classic Janet albums, I understand why she was so appealing to the public. Janet was a woman in control, classy, has self-awareness about herself and society. That's why I dont really understand some of her sexually-explicit songs. It's okay to have three songs about sex but sometimes Jan overdoes it. For Madonna, I understand... because she basically started like that. :ninja: Madonna fans, dont bash me either.. :lol:

Britney is not as talented as Janet. I kinda gave up on Brit along time ago. Her music is popular but it lacks substance. It's just there for instant gratification... and then you either get tired or annoyed of it. But have to give credit where it's due, Britney is still going strong.
 
I think timing also plays a big part in all the sales business.
Like when they both started, how old they were, what the audiences age is & how broad it is also factors like the rise & fall of things like casettes to CDs to MP3's & the internet...I think alot of these things favour Britney in terms of sales.

Sorry if that has already been said.
I agree with Travis, alot of the stuff is true. I dont think Janet has as strong a backing as she used to & even less so in the younger generations which can play a big part in sales...but not always :)
 
Adore said:
And I'm not convinced on this one. With all the big name endorsements and products out there with Britney's name on, it must be at least even. But sure Janet has had more #1 albums. That's largely due to the fact that she's had more albums, period.

And also, Janet is not 2nd to Madonna in female sales. You seem to be forgetting about Mariah Carey.
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BruceWayne said:
And Tina Turner, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, e.t.c, e.t.c...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists

(That is if these figures are correct)
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Not quite.

She is ranked by Billboard magazine as the ninth most successful act in rock and roll history, and the second most successful female artist in pop music history, she has sold over over 100 million albums worldwide.

http://www.theinsider.com/news/667384_Janet_Jackson
 
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