THE RISE OF "UPTOWN FUNK": COULD IT BECOME THE ALL-TIME #1 SELLER?

Could Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk” become the biggest-selling single of all time in the U.S.?

The RCA artist’s dance-party juggernaut, featuring megastar Bruno Mars, has sold more than 5.23 million singles so far—163k this week (down just 1%)—and is currently the 54th-biggest-selling track of all time. But at 6m it will be a contender for #30 (now occupied by Timbaland’s “Apologize”), at 6.5m in the running for #20 (currently Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger”) and at 7.2m (which it could reach in a few months at this rate) will enter the Top 10 (see below). How high is high?

“I wouldn’t rule it out,” says label prexy/COO Tom Corson of the song’s potential to become the all-time sales champ. “The song is not burning.”

The Ronson project is a U.K. signing A&R'd by RCA CEO Peter Edge.

The current all-time #1 is the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling,” which sits at nearly 8.7m. That track was released in 2009, a peak time for downloads—especially singles. To surpass it now, with digital sales on the decline, would be even more impressive. You can see a list of all-time top sellers below.

All this action is well before a Record of the Year Grammy nomination that seems inevitable and will reignite the song’s sales—assuming it’s slowed down by then, which isn’t a sure thing. It’s more than likely that a new Mars album, whenever that comes, will also add exposure for the track.That’s why we’re ready to bet on the song contending for all-time top seller. Don’t believe it? Just watch.

In any case, it’s important to note that while there’s a much bigger music pie now, downloads are a smaller slice than at any time since the iTunes store opened in 2003—due largely to streaming. Still chugging along: Pharrell’s ubiquitous, award-snagging “Happy” (6.9m so far) sold 17.5k tracks last week; Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” (nearing the 6m mark) sold 17.2k; John Legend’s “All of Me” (about 5.5m thus far) moved more than16k; Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” (a whopping 7.65m total) racked up 10.5k.