As the Academy Awards prepare to pay tribute to British Secret Service agent 007 and the James Bond franchise this Sunday, Nielsen looked at the most popular titles by music and disc sales.
Some key findings include:
- 1.5 million: Since its debut last year, consumers have purchased 1.5 million digital copies of Adele’s Oscar-nominated theme song to “Skyfall,” which is almost as many digital tracks as the rest of the top 10 songs combined (1.7 million digital tracks purchased).
- No. 4: Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die,” the only pre-digital era Bond song on the top five list, is the fourth best-selling Bond title track, as consumers had purchased 269,000 digital tracks as of Feb. 17.
- 453,000: Consumers have purchased 453,000 copies of the “The Best of Bond” soundtrack, the most purchases among all James Bond soundtracks, ahead of the soundtracks for “Tomorrow Never Dies” (117,000 copies purchased) and “GoldenEye” (116,000 copies).
- 21%: Action movies—moviegoers’ favorite genre to see in a theater in 2012—accounted for 21 percent of all video sales in 2012, the most sales of any genre.
- No. 1: “Skyfall,” just released on Feb. 12, is already the highest-selling DVD so far this year.
| Rank | James Bond Title | Year | Title Song | Artist | Digital Track Purchases |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Skyfall | 2012 | Skyfall | Adele | 1,552,000 |
| 2 | Quantum of Solace | 2008 | Another Way to Die | Jack White/Alicia Keys | 318,000 |
| 3 | Casino Royale | 2006 | You Know My Name | Chris Cornell | 290,000 |
| 4 | Live and Let Die | 1973 | Live and Let Die | Paul McCartney | 269,000 |
| 5 | Die Another Day | 2002 | Die Another Day | Madonna | 232,000 |
| 6 | The Spy Who Loved Me | 1977 | Nobody Does It Better | Carly Simon | 213,000 |
| 7 | A View to a Kill | 1985 | A View to a Kill | Duran Duran | 149,000 |
| 8 | Goldfinger | 1964 | Goldfinger | Shirley Bassey | 81,000 |
| 9 | Dr. No | 1962 | James Bond Theme | John Barry | 52,000 |
| 10 | Diamonds Are Forever | 1971 | Diamonds Are Forever | Shirley Bassey | 51,000 |
*Release-to-date digital track purchases.Read as: Since its release in 2012, U.S. consumers have purchased 1.5 million digital tracks of Adele’s “Skyfall.”
Source: Nielsen.
| Rank | Title | Year Released | Album Purchases |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Best of Bond: James Bond^ | 1999, 2002, 2008, 2012 | 453,000 |
| 2 | Tomorrow Never Dies | 1997 | 117,000 |
| 3 | GoldenEye | 1995 | 116,000 |
| 4 | Die Another Day | 2002 | 107,000 |
| 5 | The World is Not Enough | 1999 | 60,000 |
*Release-to-date album purchases. ^Includes sales of all re-releases of the same album.
Source: Nielsen.
| Rank | Title | Year Released |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Casino Royale | 2006 |
| 2 | Die Another Day | 2002 |
| 3 | Quantum of Solace | 2008 |
| 4 | The World is Not Enough | 1999 |
| 5 | GoldenEye | 1995 |
*As of 2012. Based on unit sales since 2000, the first year Nielsen began tracking DVD sales. Data does not include Walmart.
Source: Nielsen.
