Michael Jackson Album Sales After Death: An In-Depth Look

smooth_criminal05

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We all know Michael Jackson has sold incredible amounts of records since his death on June 25th 2009. I have been keeping a weekly tab on both US and Global numbers. Here are the total record sales thus far and remember this is only ALBUMS sales!

I will be updating this thread constantly for the rest of the year so we can calculate exactly how many albums Jackson has sold in 2009.

*US Figures: Jan 1st 2009 - December 31st 2009
*Global Figures: Jan 1st 2009 - December 31st 2009

OFF THE WALL
-500,000 (US)
-1,600,000 (Globally)

THRILLER
-1,300,000 (US)
-4,500,000 (Globally)

BAD
-550,000 (US)
-2,500,000 (Globally)

DANGEROUS
-390,000 (US)
-2,000,000 (Globally)

HISTORY
-150,000 (US)
-850,000 (Globally)

INVINCIBLE
-190,000 (US)
-1,100,000 (Globally)

ESSENTIAL
-1,100,000 (US)
-3,200,000 (Globally)

NUMBER ONES
-2,300,000 (US)
-3,900,000 (Globally)

KING OF POP
-2,300,000 (Globally)

THIS IS IT
-1,300,000 (US)
-3,600,000 (Globally)

JACKSON 5 ALBUMS
-500,000 (US)
-1,400,000 (Globally)

OTHER:
-500,000 (US)
-1,800,000 (Globally)

TOTAL US ALBUM SALES= 8.7 MILLION (8.2 million not including J-5)
TOTAL GLOBAL ALBUM SALES= 29 MILLION

*This does not include single sales, digital downloads, dvd's, ringtones, illegally downloaded material, pirated albums, or countries that don't track album sales/refuse to reveal it. Just legally purchased ALBUMS.

Official Source: Sony Music
 
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^^ MJ was more than 100 million in debt...and those figures aren't in dollars...those are in copies of albums sold
 
Thanks for sharing this. One question though, what is the source for these numbers? Earlier today I was reading someone's post on another music forum which said there have been about 8 million Michael albums sold worldwide since his passing. So depending on what source is used it seems the numbers can vary by millions.
 
Thank you for putting this together so nicely and neatly smooth criminal05! I know that you've been keeping tabs on the record sales since Michael's passing.

Quick question. Do the global sales include the US sales? Or can we add them up together to get total sales of each album. . .:)

That's a lot of sales. Plus we haven't figured in digital downloads of albums and singles!
 
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say...20 million global by the end of 09?

Also, was there any confirmation he was actaully in debt? Or was that all BS?
 
^Source for the US numbers: Nielsen Soundscan/Billboard/HitsDailyDouble, Source for Global Numbers: Media Traffic. Your right, sales of Jacksons albums were 8 million 2 weeks ago but Jackson has been selling over a million albums per week thus the amounts keep increasing. When I update the figures Friday, his global album sales will tower over 11 million.

^The US figures are already included in the global numbers, I just wanted to show the US sales separately to show how incredible MJ is selling in the US.

And...if you include digital downloads in these figures, the UNITS sold since Jackson's death exceed 12 MILLION in the United States, and 28 MILLION globally.
 
Thanks smooth criminal05!

Wow! MJ needs to be RECOGNIZED!! :)

I've a feeling that there might be major sales boosts around the tribute concert in Sept, then when the film comes out in late Oct. If a live album or a new album comes out. . . then look out! More records will be set!
 
The US figures are already included in the global numbers, I just wanted to show the US sales separately to show how incredible MJ is selling in the US.

And...if you include digital downloads in these figures, the UNITS sold since Jackson's death exceed 12 MILLION in the United States, and 28 MILLION globally.

I noticed that, Michael’s album sales in the US are very impressive compared to global sales!! Perhaps due to his increased popularity in the US.
 
Thanks for posting. I'm not trying to be snarky but is it possible to provide a link so that a documented source is available in case it becomes necessary to cite one.
 
Thanks for posting. I'm not trying to be snarky but is it possible to provide a link so that a documented source is available in case it becomes necessary to cite one.

http://www.mediatraffic.de/ ....click on previous charts under Albums and you can add up the sales yourself on a week by week basis. (Global source)

My US sales are comprised of media reports from Billboard, Yahoo Music, and MTV (using figures from Nielsen Soundscan) . There is not one link I can give you that will verify any numbers as this is not available to the public. You will just have to trust my record keeping. I always try my best to get the actual Nielsen Soundscan numbers and if they are not available I use HitsDailyDouble ( www.hitsdailydouble.com )
 
WOW...By this amount...the 100mil debt is gone and there's More profit for his estate. Michael Making HIStory again!

Thankyou for this!

Love,
Romi

I was wondering where these money from albums sales going?
Happy to know they are going to MJ's estate. I have been buying every single albums of MJ and J5 that I see.
 
THRILLER
-853,000 (US)
-2,059,000 (Globally)


Michaels "Thriller" will without any doubt have the best-selling album of all time in the United States anytime soon.

When does RIAA certify the albums?

Edit: Just saw this on wikipedia "As of July 19, 2009, shipments of Thriller are approaching the 30 million mark in the USA, making it likely to become the first triple diamond RIAA-certified album in history before the end of this year."
 
Wow, I love looking at these figures. Shows just how many people cared about MJ, and maybe how those who didn't have turned around. Does anyone have a list of all the certifications? i.e Diamond, Platinum, and the sales associated with them? Because I'm not sure of the order.
 
Edit: Just saw this on wikipedia "As of July 19, 2009, shipments of Thriller are approaching the 30 million mark in the USA, making it likely to become the first triple diamond RIAA-certified album in history before the end of this year."


I can bet that the beasts behind the conspiracy will not let that happen and they immediately will upgrade the magical-unrealistic the Eagles sales numbers, not let Thriller be the Best Seller!!!
 
Michaels "Thriller" will without any doubt have the best-selling album of all time in the United States anytime soon.

When does RIAA certify the albums?

Edit: Just saw this on wikipedia "As of July 19, 2009, shipments of Thriller are approaching the 30 million mark in the USA, making it likely to become the first triple diamond RIAA-certified album in history before the end of this year."

I think Epic or Sony should approach RIAA to get it certified, I donno what’s holding them back!
 
I can bet that the beasts behind the conspiracy will not let that happen and they immediately will upgrade the magical-unrealistic the Eagles sales numbers, not let Thriller be the Best Seller!!!

I am stunned that something like that might happen in a civilized country like the USA, but then everyone doubts the Eagles sales record! :brow:
 
Thanks for posting this smoothcriminal_05 :). Michael is doing amazingly well. There are also the sales of Blood On the Dancefloor - HIStory In The Mix, The Ultimate Collection and Greatest Hits: HIStory Vol 1 as well as Motown albums and other compilations (Michael Jackson Classic, Michael Jackson Gold, 12" mixes, Michael Jackson X2 Platinum, Michael Jackson 20th Century Masters: The Millenium Collection) that need to be added too, so Michael's album sales are over 4.3 million in the US and almost 11 million worldwide.
 
Hey, but this is without the DVD and download, right?

So the the total sales has to be bigger..., or will be bigger at the end of the year...
 
Hey, but this is without the DVD and download, right?

So the the total sales has to be bigger..., or will be bigger at the end of the year...

Yep these sales do not include DVDs.

Michael's combined singles and albums sales since his death are over 25 million worldwide, by the end of the year I would not be surprised if it is around 35-40 million or maybe more depending on whether a live album is released this year.
 
Yep these sales do not include DVDs.

Michael's combined singles and albums sales since his death are over 25 million worldwide, by the end of the year I would not be surprised if it is around 35-40 million or maybe more depending on whether a live album is released this year.

Its reported that Michael has sold more than 750 million UNITS (or is it only albums?) worldwide, right?

So, are we safe to say that by the end of the year Michaels sales can be up to 800 million units worldwide, which includes singels, albums, dvd's etc...
 
I hope that (although sadly...) MJs death will be the reason for an official upgrade of the total sales and that Media will/can not doubt Michaels success, and whats more important is the impact of MJs death of his sales, its so enormous that Michael is the best seller of the year right now, so next year World Music Awards will be about Michael, and he definitely will get several awards!!!!

And in many ways, this year - 2009 - is Michael Jackson year!!!
All yearbooks will be about Michael... if anything worse is not going to happen....
 
I hope that (although sadly...) MJs death will be the reason for an official upgrade of the total sales and that Media will/can not doubt Michaels success, and whats more important is the impact of MJs death of his sales, its so enormous that Michael is the best seller of the year right now, so next year World Music Awards will be about Michael, and he definitely will get several awards!!!!

And in many ways, this year - 2009 - is Michael Jackson year!!!
All yearbooks will be about Michael... if anything worse is not going to happen....

I don't think the press/media ever doubted his success. It's pretty impossible, given the cold hard facts. They were just jealous. And yes, this is Michaels year.
 
I don't think the press/media ever doubted his success. It's pretty impossible, given the cold hard facts. They were just jealous. And yes, this is Michaels year.

They DID, for example with the HIStory album, despite of the mega success, they permanently called it "failure" , as well as Invincible...

You have to distunguish the MJ fan forums and info from it, and then the media reports read by millions of ordinary readers!!!!, its huge difference!

The fans on any forums have the relevant info - its like another world, but media=some particular (young) reporters do not report the relevant info, cant you see it...?
 
They DID, for example with the HIStory album, despite of the mega success, they permanently called it "failure" , as well as Invincible...

You have to distunguish the MJ fan forums and info from it, and then the media reports read by millions of ordinary readers!!!!, its huge difference!

The fans on any forums have the relevant info - its like another world, but media=some particular (young) reporters do not report the relevant info, cant you see it...?

True, but what I'm trying to say is that even if the press say HIStory or Invincible is a failure, the straight facts say otherwise. In MJ's eyes, yes it's not up to his standards, but they still sold more than most modern day artists. The media just wanted to put him down.
 
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