Editing American Idol (section)

===Music releases===
{{Main|American Idol compilation series{{!}}''American Idol'' compilation series|American Idol Hot 100 singles{{!}}''American Idol'' Hot 100 singles}}
''American Idol'' has traditionally released studio recordings of contestants' performances as well as the winner's coronation single for sale. For the first five seasons, the recordings were released as a compilation album at the end of the season. All five of these albums reached the top ten in Billboard 200 which made ''American Idol'' the most successful soundtrack franchise of any motion picture or television program. Starting late in the fifth season, individual performances were released during the season as digital downloads, initially from the ''American Idol'' official website only. In the seventh season the live performances and studio recordings were made available during the season from iTunes when it joined as a sponsor. In the tenth season the weekly studio recordings were also released as compilation digital album straight after performance night.<ref>{{Cite web |author=A. O. L. Staff |date=2025-03-09 |title=All 22 'American Idol' winners ranked from least to most successful |url=https://www.aol.com/22-american-idol-winners-ranked-130201582.html |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=www.aol.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

19 Recordings, a recording label owned by 19 Entertainment, currently hold the rights to phonographic material recorded by all the contestants. 19 Recordings originally partnered with [[Bertelsmann Music Group]] (BMG) to promote and distribute the recordings through its labels [[RCA Records]], [[Arista Records]], [[J Records]], and [[Jive Records]]. From 2005–2007, BMG partnered with [[Sony Music Entertainment]] to form a joint venture known as [[Sony BMG Music Entertainment]]. From 2008 to 2010, following their acquisition of BMG, [[Sony Music Entertainment|Sony Music]] handled the distribution of ''American Idol'''s music. In 2010, [[Universal Music Group|UMG]]'s [[Interscope-Geffen-A&M]] Records replaced Sony as the music label for ''American Idol''.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 3, 2010 |title='American Idol' drops Sony, signs with Universal Music Group for distribution deal |work=Los Angeles Times |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/08/american-idol-drops-sony-signs-with-universal-music-group-for-album-distribution-deal.html |access-date=February 24, 2011}}</ref>