USA

Soundscan Information and some chart commentary courtesy of JRKing. Thank you.

Sales For The Week Ending April 3rd, 2005/Billboard Issue Date: April 16th, 2005.

MICHAEL JACKSON - 14,162 units
(Does not include sales for The Ultimate Collection (4 CD/1 DVD), single sales, certain music DVD titles like The One, Dangerous: The Short Films, etc., material recorded with The Jacksons, and Motown era solo and Jackson 5 albums.)

Rank, Title, Sales This Week, +/- percentage

1. Thriller: 4,594 (-16%) (Top 15 on Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Catalog Chart)
2. Number Ones: 3,872 (-7%)
3. Number Ones (Video): 2,155 (-22%) (#25 on Billboard Comprehensive Music Videos Chart)
4. Greatest Hits: HIStory Vol. 1: 1,053 (-20%)
5. Off the Wall: 821 (-10%)
6. Greatest Hits: HIStory (Video): 454 (-2%)
7. HIStory on Film- Vol. 2 (Video): 296 (-17%)
8. Bad: 291 (-4%)
9. Dangerous: 267 (-3%)
10. Invincible: 174 (+29%)
11. HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I (2-CD): 146 (+30%)
12. Blood on the Dance Floor: 39 (+11%)

Notes: For some reason, Invincible saw a notable gain, as did the double-disc HIStory. Elsewhere, Thriller hung on as Jackson's #1 seller for the 3rd week in a row (remaining entrenched in the Top 15 of the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Catalog Chart) while Number Ones shifted just under 4,000 units. Meanwhile, the Number Ones DVD dropped 20-25 on the Billboard Comprehensive Music Videos Chart selling over 2,000 units last week.


MADONNA - 6,133 units

1. The Immaculate Collection: 2,785 (-12%)
2. GHV2: 538 (+41%)
3. The Immaculate Collection (Video): 248 (+2%)
4. True Blue: 246 (-17%)
5. Like A Virgin: 239 (+9%)
6. Ray Of Light: 235 (+4%)
7. Something to Remember: 218 (-16%)
8. Remixed & Revisited: 191 (+7%)
9. Madonna: 163 (+34%)
10. Music: 157 (-4%)
11. American Life: 152 (-11%)
12. The Video Collection 93:99 (Video): 152 (+15%)
13. Like a Prayer: 115 (-24%)
14. You Can Dance: 91 (-6%)
15. Girlie Show: Live Down Under (Video): 80 (-12%)
16. Ciao, Italia: Live From Italy (Video): 70 (-7%)
17. Drowned World Tour 2001 (Video): 68 (-25%)
18. Erotica: 66 (-43%)
19. Me Against The Music: 57 (-29%)
20. Bedtime Stories: 55 (-40%)
21. Evita: 50 (-23%)
22. I'm Breathless: 49 (-4%)
23. Hollywood: 38 (-14%)
24. What It Feels Like For a Girl: 36 (+177%)
25. Love Profusion: 34 (-17%)

Notes: The Immaculate Collection drops to its lowest tally this year (I believe), while GHV2 rebounds to 500+ units/week. The debut album sees a decent boost, and Ray of Light continues to hold up well. Erotica and Bedtime Stories see the largest percentage declines. The Immaculate Collection video continues to do decently.

CHER - 5451 units
(excluding Live Farewell Tour CD)

1. Very Best of Cher: 2,374 (-44%)
2. Very Best of Cher (Video): 899 (-17%)
3. Farewell Tour (Video): 496 (-16%)
4. Very Best of Cher (Deluxe): 400 (-16%)
5. Best of Cher-Millennium Collection (2004 edition): 397 (-19%)
6. If I Could Turn Back Time- Cher’s GH: 277 (-1%)
7. Heart of Stone: 177 (+11%)
8. Half Breed: 118 (-33%)
9. Believe: 116 (+5%)
10. Best of Cher-Millennium Collection (first edition): 110 (-12%)
11. Live in Concert (video, 1999): 87 (-8%)

Notes: Very Best of Cher sees a pretty big drop; I'm guessing that for purposes of RIAA certs, the Deluxe edition would be lumped with the regular version- so this album should be eligible for 3 platinum in the not-so-distant future.

JANET JACKSON - 3,373 units

1. Design Of A Decade 1986/1996 (album): 724 (-7%)
2. Damita Jo: 570 (+7%)
3. janet.: 407 (-6%)
4. From janet. To Damita Jo: 401 (+2%)
5. All For You (album): 360 (+13%)
6. The Velvet Rope: 319 (+11%)
7. Control: 213 (+25%)
8. Rhythm Nation: 209 (-3%)
9. Live in Hawaii (Video): 78 (-17%)
10. Design of a Decade 1986/1996 (Video): 50 (-)
11. All For You (CD/DVD): 42 (-28%)

Notes: Damita Jo registers a slight gain, while Control sees a notable one. Design Of A Decade again is her top seller- as it should be (though the numbers should be higher).

MARIAH CAREY - 5,867 units
(excluding Live at MSG DVD)

1. Greatest Hits (2 CD): 2,344 (-5%)
2. #1's: 1,182 (+5%)
3. Remixes (2 CD): 570 (-3%)
4. Charmbracelet: 337 (+10%)
5. Butterfly: 235 (-7%)
6. Music Box: 208 (-8%)
7. #1's (Video): 206 (-16%)
8. Glitter: 185 (+25%)
9. Daydream: 156 (+13%)
10. Rainbow: 155 (+13%)
11. Mariah Carey: 118 (+8%)
12. Around the World (Video): 65 (-30%)
13. Through the Rain: 51 (-7%)
14. Emotions: 41 (+28%)
15. MTV Unplugged: 14 (-22%)

Notes: A decent week, with -of all albums- Glitter seeing the biggest percentage increase. Sales should see their biggest impact the week the new album hits.

WHITNEY HOUSTON - 3,213 units

1. The Greatest Hits (2 CD): 1,844 (+15%)
2. The Bodyguard: 432 (+17%)
3. The Greatest Hits (Video): 197 (+13%)
4. The Preacher's Wife: 176 (-3%)
5. Whitney Houston: 169 (+16%)
6. Whitney: 135 (+3%)
7. My Love is Your Love (Album): 106 (-18%)
8. Just Whitney: 103 (+3%)
9. The Star Spangled Banner: 40 (-17%)
10. I'm Your Baby Tonight (Album): 11 (-62%)

Notes: A nice week for Whitney as her double disc The Greatest Hits posted another percentage increase. The 2 CD set is cornering 2,000 units sold per week.
[Edited 4/7/05 16:19pm]

BTW, I know alot of you have been inquiring about Soundscan sales for The Beatles. Well, here they are (Thanks Chris).

As of January 2004:

The Beatles

Please Please Me = 771,931
With The Beatles = 563,391
A Hard Day's Night = 1,036,676
Beatles For Sale = 594,304
Help! = 1,086,688
Rubber Soul = 1,914,424
Revolver = 1,513,993
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band = 3,076,621
Magical Mystery Tour = 1,339,262
The Beatles (White Album) = 2,705,520
Yellow Submarine = 1,089,910
Abbey Road = 3,238,061
Let It Be [original version] = 1,031,994
The Beatles 1962-1966 = 2,086,791
The Beatles 1967-1970 = 2,398,568
The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl = 10,601
Greatest Hits = 821,100
Past Masters Vol 1 = 771,811
Past Masters Vol 2 = 1,098,038
Live At The BBC = 1,498,401
Anthology 1 = 3,639,071
Anthology 2 = 1,706,912
Anthology 3 = 1,323,039

No SS info on Prince yet but if I ever come across it, I'll be sure to post.

wow, comparatively speaking, people are sleeping on Magical Mystery Tour more than I thought!

I think The Beatles catalog sales are mighty impressive.

amit1234 said:

So do I. They are incredible. I wonder how much Michael Jackson makes off of sales being that he owns most of the Beattles songs.
[Edited 4/8/05 8:20am]

amit1234 said:

I couldn't agree w/ you more! They're awesome!