Michael: The King of Music Charts
Since the day of his death, on June 25, Michael Jackson has once again taken over the world’s music charts. In the three weeks since his death, he has sold more than 9 million albums worldwide.
Gerry Arnold, Senior Entertainment Director at Best Buy, said: “We’ve been hit with an explosion of demand from fans and buyers who are trying to cope with the tragedy of his death by purchasing Michael’s songs and listening to them.” According to Arnold, fans aren’t just buying the album Thriller—they’re also seeking a wide range of his music, from the Jackson 5 to his latest works. Arnold predicts that sales of Michael’s songs will remain strong and that this wave of demand will likely continue until Christmas.
A spokesperson for the online retail company Amazon.com said that the reaction of buyers to Michael Jackson’s death has been unprecedented and unmatched. According to the spokesperson, demand for buying CDs and Michael’s albums during the 24 hours after his death has been greater than the site’s entire 11-year lifespan!
TouchTunes has also reported that since Michael’s passing, more than one million plays of his songs have been streamed on 38,000 digital music devices in public venues across the United States.
In the UK:
In the second week after Michael’s death, the number of his albums in the UK’s top 20 daily best-selling albums reached 9. The Essential Michael Jackson remained at the top for the second consecutive week, and Off The Wall rose from number 10 to number 3. Thriller climbed from 6 to 4. The Motown Years compilation of top songs by Michael and his brothers, released last year, landed at number 5. Number Ones fell from 3 to 7. Thriller 25th jumped from 18 to 9. King of Pop rose from 5 in the previous week to 14. The Very Best Of rose from 23 in the previous week to 15, and HIStory jumped from 33 to 17. The number of his singles among the top 40 best-selling singles of the day dropped from 13 in the first week to 11 in the second week.
But in the third week as well, the album “The Essential Michael Jackson” was again number one on the UK’s best-selling albums chart for the third consecutive week. The number of Michael’s albums among the top 20 best-selling albums fell from 9 to 6. Thriller was at number 3, The Motown Years by the Jackson 5 at number 5, Michael’s solo album Off The Wall at number 7, Number Ones at number 10, and King of Pop at number 20.
By the end of the third week after his death, Michael had sold 1.75 million copies of albums and singles in the UK.
In the United States:
At a time when music artists struggle to reach sales of 2 or 3 million copies of their works, Michael sold 2.3 million CDs in the United States within two weeks of his death. Sales in the third week were 1.1 million copies. The music market saw a 37% increase in album sales in the third week of Michael’s death compared to the previous week. For the third consecutive week, the album Number Ones is the best-selling album of the day in the United States, with sales of 349,000 copies. Michael’s albums have taken over the top 10 spots on the U.S. best-selling charts.
Other Michael albums—Off the Wall, Bad, Dangerous, and The Ultimate Collection—along with two Jackson 5 albums, The Ultimate Collection and 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection, were also among the top 10 best-selling albums of the day. The previous record belonged to AC/DC and The Beatles, each of which had 5 albums in the best-sellers.
Besides the U.S. and the UK, in other countries such as France, Germany, and Australia, the situation is similar. On the Billboard 100 best-selling European albums chart, Michael has taken the top four positions, and King of Pop is also at number one.
In the first week after Michael’s death, three of the five best-selling albums of the day in the United States belonged to Michael. Number Ones was number one, Thriller was second, and The Essential Michael Jackson was fifth. 82% of Michael’s sold albums in the second week were in CD format, and the rest were internet downloads. This shows that people want to keep these albums as keepsakes. That rate was 43% in the previous week. The number of downloads of Michael’s songs was 2.6 million in the first week and 2.2 million in the second week. The number of Michael’s songs among the hottest and most in-demand songs on the internet was 47 in the first week and 50 in the first week.
Number Ones broke the weekly album sales record after the death of an artist. The previous record was held by Notorious B.I.G’s album sales after his death. Thus, this is the third time that an album released after its creator’s death has become one of the top 10 best-selling albums of the day. All Eyez On Me by 2Pac in 1996 and Life After Death by Notorious B.I.G in 1997—after the deaths of these two singers—both debuted at number six. Number Ones is also number one on the catalog chart (albums that are 18 months past their release).
From June 25 to June 28, the albums Number Ones, The Essential Michael Jackson, and Thriller each sold about 100,000 copies. For comparison, it should be noted that total sales of Michael’s albums in the week ending June 2 were just 10,000 copies.
Thriller 25th sold 166,000 copies in its first week of release in February 2008 and topped the pop catalog chart. This year, it seems that The E.N.D by Black Eyed Peas will top the Billboard 200 with sales of less than 100,000 copies. That would mean the first time a catalog album (Thriller 25th) has been more successful than the first album on the Billboard 200 best-sellers chart.
Source: eMJey / Billboard / AP / MTV / LA Times / Official Charts Company