The numbers are in, and as predicted sales of Michael Jackson’s music broke records this week (including the record set by David Cook in May 2008).
Check out the deets below. You can read more at Billboard magazine HERE:
Based on preliminary sales numbers from Nielsen SoundScan, the entire top nine positions on Billboard’s Top Pop Catalog Albums chart will house Jackson-related titles when the tally is released in the early morning on Wednesday (July 1). Nielsen SoundScan’s sales tracking week ended at the close of business on Sunday (June 28) night.
The King of Pop’s “Number Ones” will fittingly lead the pack at No. 1 with 108, 000 (an increase of 2, 340%) while “The Essential Michael Jackson” and “Thriller” are in the Nos. 2 and 3 slots with 102, 000 and 101, 000, respectively.
Collectively, Jackson’s solo albums sold 415, 000 this past week. That’s extraordinary, since his titles sold a combined 10, 000 in the week that ended June 21. Of the 415, 000 total, 58% were digital downloads.
Additionally, the 415, 000 albums sold just last week is nearly 40% more than what Jackson’s catalog had sold the the entire year up through June 21 (297, 000).
Speaking of digital albums, on the Top Digital Albums chart, Jackson has a record six out of the top 10 slots, including the entire top four.
With the Black Eyed Peas’ “The E.N.D.” moving back to the No. 1 slot on the Billboard 200 chart with 88, 000, this week marks the first time that a catalog album has sold more than the No. 1 current set on the Billboard 200 albums chart. (All three of Jackson’s top sellers on the Pop Catalog chart outsell “The E.N.D.”)
Catalog albums are ineligible to appear on the Billboard 200 albums chart, though they can chart on the all-encompassing Top Comprehensive Albums list. On the latter chart, Jackson’s “Number Ones, ” “Essential” and “Thriller” are at Nos. 1-3, followed by the Black Eyed Peas’ “The E.N.D.” at No. 4.
Jackson places a record 25 songs on the 75-position Hot Digital Songs chart (21 solo hits and four with his siblings), smashing the mark of 14 charting titles established by David Cook in the June 7, 2008 issue. Jackson’s Halloween radio staple, “Thriller, ” moves 167, 000, which is good for second place on the chart behind the 203, 000 shifted by the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling.”
