It can be said that 2016 was the year of one-named musical wonders, especially in terms of incredible album sales. Beyoncé, Drake, Adele...these are the artists whose albums shot to the top of the charts and stayed there all year, slaying our playlists with their greatness. But one artist outsold them all this year in a totally old school way, and he did so without a visual album, a worldwide tour, or a social media plug. In fact, he did so without even being alive. (Though I'd go so far as to call him the hottest musician alive...in 1782.)
Yep, the top-selling CD of the year was a massive box set by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...yes, that Mozart. And he earned that title with major sales in just about a month. Billboard reports, "Mozart 225: The New Complete Edition has shifted 1.25 million total CDs in the weeks since its Oct. 28 release, according to Universal Music Group." The box set was released to celebrate his 225th birthday (happy belated, Mozart!) and features a staggering 200 CDs of classical goodness for your eardrums. That's 240 hours of music, people.
Of course, it's worth noting that Mozart's colossal success this year was from actual CD sales (remember them?) and that iTunes cites Drake for having the top-selling digital album of the year.
So even though you probably haven't purchased a physical CD in almost a decade, take comfort in the fact that there are still people out there bumpin' Mozart's beats in their five-disc CD changers. Sorry, Bey. Mozart's magic flute did not come to play.
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