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Fun with metrics: Coldplay is bigger than The Beatles. Here’s why and how.

Determining The Biggest Band of All Time® was once easy. Which group sold the most records? Case closed, right?

Not today, though. We have many more ways of measuring a band’s popularity. Cameron Gordon over at Completely Ignored looked at things this way. Click on the image to see the entire study.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39679 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

3 thoughts on “Fun with metrics: Coldplay is bigger than The Beatles. Here’s why and how.

  • Yeah I mean of course Coldplay is more popular right now.. the Beatles are 39 years older, they aren’t mainstream anymore like Coldplay is. The only way to compare popularity would be to compare Coldplay’s height (around 2003 album wise, 2008 single wise, or right now concert wise) with the height of the Beatles in their own time.

    Reply
    • This is exactly right. The idea that Coldplay is bigger than the Beatles based off of CURRENT data, especially streaming data, is plain stupid.

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  • Really cool that they have such a HUGE following….
    I also like how considerate they are of their fans…
    …making provisions for them to enjoy their concert experience..

    Reply

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