Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

The 20 best-selling music artists of the digital era

John LynchNov 4, 2016, 23:24 IST

Rihanna.Mike Coppola/Getty

In the modern era of music, as physical album sales have rapidly died off, popular artists now have to make money from digital downloads and increasingly promising streaming services.

In order to find out which music acts have made the most impact in the digital era, we compiled the RIAA's data on the highest-selling artists of all time for "certified units" of digital singles sold in the US.

The sales data takes download and streaming figures for individual songs into account, and the resulting list includes the expected heavy hitters - Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and Drake - alongside some slightly more surprising names.

Check out the 20 best-selling music artists of the digital era: