[razchaos]

OK. It's like this. A Japanese album would sell around 2-3 million copies in Japan alone. And when it comes to international(outside japan)it would probably sell around 400-500 thousand. I think that is a great number for a country like japan. In America, 1-3 millon copies for an album is usual. Some albums could reach 4-9 million copies very easily even in the same year the album was released. Usher's Confession is a good example. The album hit 1.3 million copies in it's first week and sold more than 9 million(i dunno about this thing in japan but a platinum award in america equal to a million copies) 9m in america alone!!!!

Before Britney turned 20, she had sold nearly 40 million albums worldwide. As far as I know, her Baby One More Time album has just recently certified 14 million copies in USA alone. Then her second album sold 10 million copies in america. I think all american artistes earn their money accordding to the contract they signed. For example, Mariah signed a USD80M contract which is the biggest deal signed for Virgin. Not long after that, she had been fired and Virgin paid USD28M to her. All american artistes probably earn at least USD10M even though they don't released any album.