amit1234 said:

'Great news'

#177



.

It is so rediculous for Michael Jackson to release another greatest hits compilation. Disc 1 of "History" was already a greatest hits compilation and he even released it separately for those who didn't want the other disc.

Now releasing the videos on DVD was a great idea. I bought that DVD. The only dumb thing he did with that project was not putting the full version of "Bad" and the "Dangerous" part at the end of "Black or White". At least he put the full video of "Thriller" on there and leaving out the long ass version of "Smooth Criminal" with the kids, was an excellent idea.

Lennon said:

jseven said:

I'm pretty sure that each disc doesn't count towards the purchase, but counts towards the certification instead. One copy purchased of a two-CD set counts once towards Soundscan, but counts twice when RIAA certifies the album.

UK

Some even better news...

With cumulative sales of 660,000 units for the year, Michael Jackson was the UK's 30th Best Selling Albums Artist of 2004. In 2003, Jackson was the UK's 4th Best Selling Albums Artist.
Thanks to Alan Jones and MW for the following information.

Note: Artists with an * asterik appeared on last year's End Of Year summary.

01 Robbie Williams* 1.83 m
02 Scissor Sisters 1,59 m
03 Keane 1,59 m
04 Maroon 5 1.52 m
05 Katie Melua 1.35 m
06 Norah Jones* 1.34 m
07 Joss Stone 1.27 m
08 Usher 1.25 m
09 Anastacia 1.21 m
10 U2 1.09 m
11 Guns N' Roses 1.07 m
12 Snow Patrol 1.04 m
13 Britney Spears 1.02 m
14 Ronan Keating 1.01 m
15 The Streets 1.00 m
16 Eminem* 970,000
17 Il Divo 960,000
18 Green Day 940,000
19 Red Hot Chili Peppers* 890,000
20 Busted* 850,000
21 Westlife* 810,000
22 Rod Stewart* 810,000
23 Kylie Minogue* 780,000
24 Franz Ferdinand 770,000
25 George Michael 760,000
26 Will Young* 700,000
27 Phil Collins 700,000
28 Dido 690,000
29 Natasha Bedingfield 680,000
30 Michael Jackson* 660,000
31 OutKast 650,000
32 Jamie Cullum* 640,000
33 Shania Twain 610,000
34 Avril Lavigne* 600,000
35 Black Eyed Peas* 590,000
36 Blue* 590,000
37 REM* 570,000
38 McFly 540,000
39 Lemar 530,000
40 Damien Rice 520,000
41 Daniel O'Donnell* 490,000
42 Travis 470,000
43 Destiny's Child 460,000
44 David Bowie* 460,000
45 Abba 460,000
46 Morrissey 460,000
47 Kanye West 450,000
48 Girls Aloud 440,000
49 No Doubt 430,000
50 Jamelia 430,000

Lennon said:

Ja, best wel.
[Edited 1/20/05 10:11am]

USA

Sales For The Week Ending January 16th, 2005/Billboard Issue Date: January 29, 2005.

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

MICHAEL JACKSON - 14,275 units
(Does not include sales of The Ultimate Collection)

1. Number Ones: 5,201 (4,963) (+5%) (#177 on Billboard 200)
2. Thriller: 3,584 (3,819) (-6%)
3. Number Ones (DVD): 2,125 (2,215) (-4%)
4. Greatest Hits: HIStory Vol. 1[/b][/i]: 1,176 (1,358) (-13%)
5. Off the Wall: 626 (556) (+12%)
6. Greatest Hits: HIStory: 486 (544) (-11%)
7. HIStory on Film- Vol. 2 (DVD): 367 (378) (-3%)
8. Bad: 241 (254) (-6%)
9. Dangerous: 218 (192) (+14%)
10.Invincible: 122 (122) (0%)
11.HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I (2-CD): 96 (107) (-9%)
12.Blood on the Dance Floor: 33 (36) (-8%)


UK

More great news in the UK as Number Ones remains in the Top 75 Album Chart dropping 48-56.

Number Ones - UK Top 75 Album Chart
Week #39 (16/01/05): #56


AUSTRALIA

Number Ones - ARIA Top 40 Urban Albums Chart
Week #60 (09/01/05): #17

Number Ones (DVD) - ARIA Top 40 Music DVD Chart
Week #60 (09/01/05): #18

UK

Number Ones - UK Top 75 Album Chart
Week #40 (23/01/05): #64


AUSTRALIA

Number Ones - ARIA Top 40 Urban Albums Chart
Week #62 (23/01/05): #13

Number Ones (DVD) - ARIA Top 40 Music DVD Chart
Week #57 (23/01/05): #13

The Very Best Of The Jacksons - ARIA Top 40 Urban Albums Chart
Week #26 (23/01/05): #39

More great news from Britain...

http://www.itv.com/news/1144598.html

US Rockers, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have entered the record books as one of the 100 most successful recording artists of all time.

The Guinness British Hit Singles and Albums book ranks artists every year according to how many weeks they have spent in the UK singles and albums charts.

The likes of Madonna, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and Elvis Presley are already in the top 100.

This year, the Chilies are the only new entry - making it to number 97.

Those who have a chance of getting in next year include Britney Spears, Eminem, Westlife, Radiohead and Iron Maiden, according to the list's compilers.

Spandau Ballet has fallen out of the top 100, while Michael Jackson is the highest climber as he is now number eight.

Elvis Presley still tops the list having notched up 2463 weeks in the UK singles and albums charts - more than the time he was alive for.

The acts which have climbed the list include The Stereophonics to 84, The Corrs to 89; Guns n' Roses to 74; and Robbie Williams to 43.

George Michael has risen to 56; REM to 32; Cher to 68 and Simply Red to 26.

Those to fall down the list include Electric Light Orchestra to 54; Bruce Springsteen to 47; Blur to 91; and Mike Oldfield to 48.

British Hit Singles & Albums editor David Roberts said: "It's very rare to get new acts breaking into the Top 100, so this really is an incredible achievement".

All hail the new king of pop!

Imminent Starvation 2004 sales:

Human Dislocation: 201 units
Nord: 105 units
Screenwalking (w/ Synapscape): 78 units

Sales For The Week Ending January 23rd, 2005/Billboard Issue Date: February 5th, 2005.

The Top 12 registered sales of 13,794 units (down from 14,275 units sold of the Top 12 the week before.) Note: This tally does not include sales for The Ultimate Collection (4 CD/1 DVD), single sales, certain music DVD titles (eg. 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, Sales Last Week, +/- percentage

MICHAEL JACKSON - 13,794 units

1. Number Ones: 5,454 (5,201) (+5%) (#170 Billboard 200)
2. Thriller: 3,030 (3,584) (-15%)
3. Number Ones (DVD): 2,066 (2,125) (-3%)
4. Greatest Hits: HIStory Vol. 1: 1,171 (1,176) (-)
5. Off the Wall: 639 (626) (+2%)
6. Greatest Hits: HIStory (DVD): 454 (486) (-7%)
7. HIStory on Film- Vol. 2 (DVD): 304 (367) (-17%)
8. Bad: 226 (241) (-5%)
9. Dangerous: 208 (218) (-5%)
10. HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I[/i][/b] (2-CD): 105 (96) (+9%)
11. Invincible: 99 (122) (-19%)
12. Blood on the Dance Floor: 38 (33) (+15%)

amit1234 said:

Once in the other thread was not enough, huh?

Voices Carry - You're very cute.

USA

Great news on Billboard's 2004 End Of Year video charts as Number Ones came in at #5 on the Top Comprehensive Music Videos Sales Chart while it also came in at #12 on the Top Music Video Sales Chart.

FYI, as per Billboard, the Top Comprehensive Music Video Sales chart is an exclusive online chart that focuses solely on on stand-alone video titles (DVD or VHS). Meanwhile, the Top Music Video Sales Chart includes combo packages that include both CD and DVD components.

2004 Top Comprehensive Music Video Sales (Includes only DVD or VHS titles)

1. Live At Donington - AC/DC
2. Concert For George - Various Artists
3. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
4. Four Flicks (Best Buy Exclusive) - Rolling Stones
5. Number Ones - Michael Jackson
6. The Central Park Concert - Dave Matthews Band
7. The Complete Masterworks - Tenacious D
8. Up! - Live In Chicago - Shania Twain
9. When The Sun Goes Down - Kenny Chesney
10. Live In Barcelona - Bruce Springsteen


2004 Top Music Video Sales (Includes both CD/DVD combo packages)
1. Live In Texas - Linkin Park
2. Part II - Lil Jon & The East Side
3. Coldplay Live 2003 - Coldplay
4. Disclaimer II - Seether
5. Past, Present & Future - Rob Zombie
6. Ready To Die - The Notorious B.I.G.
7. Live At Donington - AC/DC
8. Concert For George - Various Artists
9. The Gorge - Dave Matthews Band
10. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
11. The Reel Me - Jennifer Lopez
12. Number Ones - Michael Jackson
13. The Central Park Concert - Dave Matthews Band
14. Tales Of A Librarian - Tori Amos
15. The Complete Masterworks - Tenacious D
16. Up! - Live In Chicago - Shania Twain
17. The Best Of Pantera: Far Beyond The Great Souther Cowboys' Vulgar Hits - Pantera
18. Live At Wembley - Beyonce
19. When The Sun Goes Down - Kenny Chesney
20. Straight Outta Ca$hville - Young Buck

This week, Number Ones posted another increase in sales - up 19% - selling an additional 6,503 units placing at #162 on the Billboard 200. Over on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Album Chart, Number Ones moves down from #81 to #83.

USA

Sales For The Week Ending January 30th, 2005/Billboard Issue Date: February 12th, 2005.

The Top 12 registered sales of 15,249 units (up from 13,794 units sold of the Top 12 the week before.) Note: This tally does not include sales for The Ultimate Collection (4 CD/1 DVD), single sales, certain music DVD titles (eg. 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, Sales Last Week, +/- percentage

MICHAEL JACKSON - 15,249 units

1. Number Ones: 6,503 (5,454) (+19%)
2. Thriller (Special Edition): 3,217 (3,030) (+7%)
3. Number Ones (DVD): 2,106 (2,066) (+2%)
4. Greatest Hits: HIStory Vol. 1: 1,170 (1,171) (-)
5. Off the Wall (Special Edition): 691 (639) (+8%)
6. Greatest Hits: HIStory (DVD): 409 (454) (-10%)
7. HIStory on Film- Vol. 2 (DVD): 335 (304) (+10%)
8. Bad (Special Edition): 254 (226) (+13%)
9. Dangerous (Special Edition): 238 (208) (+17%)
10. Invincible: 187 (99) (+89%)
11. HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I (2-CD): 105 (105) (-)
12. Blood on the Dance Floor: 34 (38) (-11%)

Hey guys,

As per Musicweek, here's some followup information on exactly how many albums Thriller, Bad, and Off The Wall sold in the UK in 2004. You'll notice that for the second year in row, Jackson had the most titles on the End Of Year Catalogue Chart.

UK

Thanks for the info chrismusicpower. Much appreciated.

Source: Musicweek, January 1, 2005.

CATALOGUE 2004 by ALAN JONES

Made up in exactly equal measure of regular albums and compilations, the Top 50 catalogue albums of 2004 - titles first released no later than 1 January 2002 - are diverse both in terms of their content and their original chart performance.

It's not a major surprise, for example, to find Abba's perennial Gold compilation winning the title for best-selling catalogue album at a canter, adding a further 376,782 sales to its already enormous tally in the year, and leaving the number two selection, Duran Duran's reactivated Greatest album, trailing 57.7% behind it, though Greatest sold a highly creditable 238,897 copies.

But how to explain the popularity of Rage Against The Machine's self-titled debut? The album failed to impress here when first released in 1993, peaking at number 17. It was even less of a hit in the band's native America, where it climbed no higher than number 45 on the Billboard chart. It has, however, subsequently been lauded as a classic, pioneering album, the first to blend rap and metal into a potent new style which has become much imitated. At its low point in 1997, the album sold 10,420 - a respectable tally for a four year old album which barely scraped into the Top 20 - but it increased sales significantly in each of the next six years, and sold as many as 80,968 copies in 1993. It finally suffered a decline in 2004, but the 53,715 copies it sold are still enough to make it the 50th best-selling catalogue album of the year.

Michael Jackson had most titles in the chart in 2003, and repeats the feat for 2004, with the same three albums in the same order - Thriller improves 9-6, Off The Wall slips 16-17 and Bad stumbles 22-47, with sales of 134,729, 91,675 and 56,209, respectively.

Off The Wall - which dates from 1979 - is one of the oldest titles on the list, being junior only to The Sex Pistols' Never Mind The Bollocks (1977, number 21, 87,195 sales), David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust (1973, number 43, 60,410) and the Beach Boys' 1966 classic Pet Sounds, which finishes in 37th place, with 65,850 sales.

The Beach Boys therefore win a notable victory over their '60s rivals the Beatles, whose top regular studio album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, just misses this year's list. However, the Beatles' 1 compilation finishes at number 16 on the catalogue list, with 92,689 sales in 2004, while The Very Best Of The Beach Boys is 26th with 80,166 sales.

POSITION IN CATALOGUE CHART OVERALL 2004 POSITION TITLE ARTIST

1 47 GOLD - GREATEST HITS ABBA
2 74 GREATEST DURAN DURAN
3 94 THE STORY SO FAR - THE VERY BEST OF ROD STEWART
4 98 NO ANGEL DIDO
5 100 TEARS ROLL DOWN - GREATEST HITS 82-92 TEARS FOR FEARS
6 135 THRILLER MICHAEL JACKSON
7 144 LEGEND BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS
8 152 8701 USHER
9 156 THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION MADONNA
10 164 SWING WHEN YOU'RE WINNING ROBBIE WILLIAMS
11 168 SONGBIRD EVA CASSIDY
12 178 LENNON LEGEND - THE VERY BEST OF JOHN LENNON
13 179 THE GREATEST HITS WHITNEY HOUSTON
14 189 WHITE LADDER DAVID GRAY
15 196 SULTANS OF SWING - THE VERY BEST OF DIRE STRAITS
16 202 1 BEATLES
17 206 OFF THE WALL MICHAEL JACKSON
18 208 LADIES & GENTLEMEN - THE BEST OF GEORGE MICHAEL
19 209 APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION GUNS N' ROSES
20 210 INTERNATIONAL SUPERHITS GREEN DAY
21 215 NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS SEX PISTOLS
22 226 DEFINITELY MAYBE OASIS
23 227 MY WAY - THE BEST OF FRANK SINATRA
24 229 SOFTLY WITH THESE SONGS - THE BEST OF ROBERTA FLACK
25 231 CALIFORNICATION RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
26 232 THE VERY BEST OF BEACH BOYS
27 238 THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON PINK FLOYD
28 239 THE BEST OF BLUR
29 244 NEVERMIND NIRVANA
30 252 STONE ROSES STONE ROSES
31 254 BACK TO FRONT LIONEL RICHIE
32 259 THE BEST OF DOORS
33 260 THE BEST OF 1980-1990 U2
34 263 GOLD - GREATEST HITS CARPENTERS
35 264 COLLECTION TRACY CHAPMAN
36 273 THE ESSENTIAL BOB DYLAN
37 274 PET SOUNDS BEACH BOYS
38 279 PARACHUTES COLDPLAY
39 280 WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY OASIS
40 282 PERFORMANCE AND COCKTAILS STEREOPHONICS
[....]
47 BAD MICHAEL JACKSON

So where the fuck did "invinible" go then?


(Voicescarry ain't around at the mo' so no joke from him anytime soon)


"invincible" just slipped so quickly...damn u sony and ur "singles" or lack of.....

How is that doing 4 world wide sales? 5 Million?
[Edited 2/8/05 15:41pm]

erm invincible is at 10 million worldwide, its sold 2.3million in the US, it sold 800,000 in Germany, over half a million in France, around 600,000 in the UK!

Id just like to add that worldwide sales and advance orders were 3million units in week one of release. The album had massive hit potential, and i believe it could have sold 20million tops!

FunkyBrotha said:

Aye! With it selling almost 10m on the back of just one big worldwide hit I think it could've sold a few million more with the aid of further singles (Unbreakable, Whatever Happens, Break Of Dawn, etc...).

And shame that Butterflies didn't get any major radio exposure outside the US.

A.K uses his industry connections to provide MJ fans with the numbers (thank you), it seems he's permanantly invaded the org.
[Edited 2/9/05 18:16pm]

Yikes. Yeah man u right, album could done at least 15 million if "unbreakable" got released.....

Mind u, Mihcael did refuse to be in the "cry" video, so Michael was partly to blame.

Whatever happened to the Sony hate Michael gave and that tommy bloke shit? I guess some Sony lawyers shut him the fuck up with some male child hookers or something?

USA

Great news as Michael Jackson's platinum* Number Ones album posts its 5th consecutive week of increased sales in the USA! This week, the album posts a gigantic 41% increase over last week's sales and jumps 40 positions on the Billboard up 160-122*. The album sold 9,198 units in the USA last week.

Once I receive this week's complete Soundscan wrap up, I'll be sure to post it. Until then, here's a brief trajectory of the album's performance on the Billboard 200 so far this year.

Number Ones - Billboard 200 Albums

Week (15/01/05): DNC (Sales: 6,296)
Week (22/01/05): DNC (Sales: 4,963)
Week #22 (29/01/05): #177 (Sales: 5,200) (Re-Entry)
Week #23 (05/02/05): #170 (Sales: 5,454)
Week #24 (12/02/05): #162 (Sales: 6,503)
Week #25 (19/02/05): #122 (Sales: 9,198)

lilgish said:

Hi lilgish - Do you mean "invaded" in a good way or bad way?

amit1234 said:

I didn't mean it in any way. I'm just waiting for platinum status and the end of this stupid case. Thank you for providing the numbers though.

lilgish - Thanks...

USA

Soundscan Information Courtesy of JRKing. Thank you.

Sales For The Week Ending February 6th, 2005/Billboard Issue Date: February 19th, 2005.

The Top 12 registered sales of 21,173 units (up from 15,249 units sold of the Top 12 the week before.) Note: This tally does not include sales for The Ultimate Collection (4 CD/1 DVD), single sales, certain music DVD titles (eg. 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, Sales Last Week, +/- percentage

MICHAEL JACKSON - 21,173 units

1. Number Ones: 9,198 (6,503) (+41%)

2. Thriller (Special Edition): 4,216 (3,217) (+32%)

3. Number Ones (DVD): 2,647 (2,106) (+26%)

4. Greatest Hits: HIStory Vol. 1: 1,899 (1,170) (+62%)

5. Off the Wall (Special Edition): 1,018 (691) (+47%)

6. Greatest Hits: HIStory (DVD): 559 (409) (+37%)

7. HIStory on Film- Vol. 2 (DVD): 442 (335) (+32%)

8. Bad (Special Edition): 366 (254) (+43%)

9. Dangerous (Special Edition): 322 (238) (+32%)

10. Invincible: 253 (187) (+35%)

11. HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I (2-CD): 201 (105) (+91%)

12. Blood on the Dance Floor: 52 (34) (+53%)

USA

Number Ones - Billboard 200 Albums
Week #25 (19/02/05): #122 (Sales: 9,198)

Number Ones - Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Week #25 (19/02/05): #66*

Number Ones - Billboard Top 50 Music Video
Week #47 (19/02/05): #18 (Sales: 2,647)

Thriller - Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Catalog Albums
(19/02/05): #13* (Sales: 4,216)

You'll note that since the news below was originally published in May 2004, it's almost one year old. Therefore, if I had to estimate, I'd say the Number Ones DVD has shifted somewhere between 1.7 to 2 million units worldwide to date.

P.S. I just picked up a old stack of Billboard magazine's from 2004 hence the lateness in this report...

USA

(12/02/05): According to an article published in the May 8th, 2004 edition of Billboard magazine ('Music DVD Soars Globally; Live Shows Are Top Sellers'), Michael Jackson's Number Ones was the world's #3 top-selling music DVD of 2003. Since the #5 top-selling music DVD of 2003 (Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin - DVD) shifted 1.5 million units, it's reasonable to assess that "Number Ones" has shifted over that amount to date.

Excerpt from article...

Music DVD Soars Globally; Live Shows Are Top Sellers

By Juliana Koranteng

LONDON - Worldwide music DVD sales are on a roll.

Considered a novelty format only two years ago, DVD has turned into a moneymaker during a low point in audio music sales.

Investments in marketing, coupled with the availabillity of compelling content from the majors, have fueled the format's popularity. Retailer willingness to move music DVDs from the movie section to the audio section has also helped.

Now, labels are cranking up their investments and release schedules to help sustain consumer interest in the format.

"The major record companies are latching onto it and exploiting it fully," says Keith Jopling, London-based director of market research at the International Federation of the Phonograhic Industry.

2003 sales figures show impressive growth for the carrier. Even as every other format the IFPI examined fell in retail value terms, DVD sales jumped 67% in value to $1.8 billion in 2003.

In unit terms, DVD sales leaped to 106 million last year from 67 million in 2002.

Although music represented only 7% of global DVD unit sales last year, according to figures from U.K-based research group Screen Digest Video Intelligence, it became the fastest-growing DVD category.

The growth in the international live-music business has helped spur DVD sales. About 60% of units the majors sold last year featured live concerts, vs. 25% that were video compilations, according to IFPI.

The world's top-selling DVDs in 2003 were Coldplay's "Live 2003" (EMI), U2's "Go Home/Live From Slane Castle" (Universal), Michael Jackson's "Number Ones" (Sony), Avril Lavigne's "My World" (BMG), and "Led Zeppelin-DVD" (Warner Vision International).

MOVING BY NUMBERS

According to Warner Vision International (WWI), global shipments of the Zeppelin title have reached 1.5 million units to date. Slightly less than 50% of shipments were in the United States.

[...]

King Of Pop Beats the January Blues as 'Number Ones' Re-enters the USA and British Album Charts
Created: Tuesday, 22 February 2005

It's no surprise that January has long been regarded as the darkest month of the year due to fading Christmas memories, foul weather, debt, etc. For the King Of Pop, however, it was business as usual as January saw the artist's Number Ones album re-enter both the USA and British album charts while simultaneously lengthening it's stellar 63 week+ consecutive chart run in Australia.

Meanwhile, in a follow up to last month's report, additional 2004 year-end chart information reveals the artist racked up extra honors Stateside as his multi-platinum Number Ones DVD ranked as the 5th Best Selling Music Video of the Year while over in the UK, for the second year in a row, Michael Jackson was the #1 solo catalog artist of 2004 with the most titles on the UK End Of Year Catalog Chart.

USA

With sales of approximately 60,000 units** for the month of January, Michael Jackson's library of Epic/Sony era material continued to demonstrate it's enduring appeal in the United States. In fact, Jackson's Number Ones album re-entered the Billboard 200 on January 13th posting three consecutive weeks of increased sales climbing 177-170-162. With combined CD/DVD sales of over 30,000 units for the month, the Number Ones project continued to roll forward in the USA as the platinum* album and triple platinum* DVD amassed 24 and 46 weeks respectively on the charts.

In other Number Ones news, Billboard's End Of Year 2004 video survey yielded more kudos for the King Of Pop as the aforementioned Number Ones DVD came in at #5 on the Top Comprehensive Music Videos Sales chart and #12 on the Top Music Video sales chart - an impressive showing in light of the fact that, according to p2pnet.net, the Number Ones DVD was Sony Music's top selling music video DVD worldwide for 2003.***

And finally, January wouldn't be complete without mentioning that the artist's legendary mainstay on the R&B/Hip-Hop Catalog Chart Thriller amassed its 320th week on the chart shifting an additional 14,000 units for the month.

UK

The United States wasn't the only territory that saw a surge in January sales for Jackson's Number Ones album. In fact, the artist's British fans outdid their U.S. counterparts by moving the album back into the Top 75 on January 2nd with a monthly chart performance that looked exactly like this: 53-48-56-64. The 5X platinum* album has now amassed a cumulative 10 months inside the Top 75 Album Chart.

In other news, leading British trade publication Musicweek yielded more great news for the King Of Pop on 1st January as, for the second year in a row, Michael Jackson was the #1 solo catalog artist in the UK. In a repeat of 2003's chart performance, Jackson had the most titles on the UK End Of Year 2004 Catalog Chart with the same three albums in the same order: Thriller improved 9-6, Off The Wall slipped 16-17 and Bad stumbled 22-47, with sales of 134,729, 91,675 and 56,209, respectively. Interestingly, 1979's Off The Wall was one of the oldest titles on the list.

With sales of 660,000 albums for 2004 (excluding sales of Jackson 5/Jacksons releases), Michael Jackson was the UK's 30th Best Selling Albums Artist of 2004. Thanks to such an impressive showing in 2004, Jackson was the highest climber of the year on The Guinness British Hit Singles and Albums book which ranks artists every year according to how many weeks they have spent in the UK singles and albums charts. He is now number eight.

Australia

In keeping with it's uninterrupted 16 month chart run, Michael Jackson's triple platinum* Number Ones retained another five weeks on the ARIA Urban Album Chart in January. The album remained fixed in the Top 20 and charted as follows: 14-12-17-13-17. Elsewhere on the same chart, the gold certified The Very Best Of The Jacksons album continued treading with a 32-37-dropout-39-38 chart run for the month.

Living up to it's title as Australia's #1 Best Selling Music DVD of 2004, Jackson's 8X platinum Number Ones DVD also flexed it's chart muscle in the Top 30 as follows: 20-26-18-13-18. The title has now spent an impressive 59 weeks on the ARIA Top 40 Music DVD Chart.

Summary

Thanks to a successful January chart run coupled with additional End Of Year 2004 chart news, the new year kicked off nicely for the King Of Pop. With February already in full gear, it's worth noting that Jackson's Number Ones album posted its fifth consecutive week of increased sales in the USA two weeks ago - up 41% selling 9,198 units.

And the record continues to spin.

Source: MJJSource

USA Soundscan information courtesy of Jim Radenhausen.

* Certification figure based on shipment information compiled in each respective country/territory.

** This tally does not include sales for The Ultimate Collection (4 CD/1 DVD), single sales, certain music DVD titles (eg. The One, Dangerous: The Short Films, Moonwalker, The Making Of Thriller, etc.), material recorded with The Jacksons, and Motown era Jackson 5/solo recordings.

*** As per Billboard, the Top Comprehensive Music Video Sales chart focuses solely on stand-alone video titles (DVD or VHS). Meanwhile, the Top Music Video Sales Chart includes combo packages that include both CD and DVD components.

http://mjjsource.com/main...&Itemid=45
[Edited 2/23/05 6:15am]