THE KING CONTINUES TO DOMINATE

Fans Snap Up 1.1 Million Michael Jackson Albums In One Week

By Keith Caulfield, L.A.

The King of Pop dominates the Nielsen SoundScan and Billboard charts yet again.

Based on preliminary sales numbers from Nielsen SoundScan, Michael Jackson’s catalog of solo albums sold a mighty 1.1 million copies in the U.S. in the tracking week that ended at the close of business on Sunday (July 12).

That’s a jump of 37% stacked next to the previous week, when his combined albums sold just shy of 800,000. In just the past two and a half weeks, American consumers have purchased more than 2.3 million Jackson albums.

Record label sources have suggested that sales of Jackson’s albums were particularly strong last week because of publicity surrounding his memorial service on Tuesday July 7. Additionally, a wider selection of his albums were re-stocked by key retailers, in addition to key hits compilations like “Number Ones” and “The Essential Michael Jackson” and of course, “Thriller.”

When Nielsen SoundScan’s charts are released in the morning on Wednesday, July 15, Jackson’s “Number Ones” collection will be the top selling album in the United States for the third week in a row, with 349,000 copies sold (an increase of 3%).

His “Thriller” moved 264,000 (up 41%) while “Essential” powered through another 149,000 (up 18%). Some older Jackson titles also saw great gains, likely owed to the one-two punch of re-stocking by brick-and-mort ar retailers and the publicity generated by the memorial service.

“Off the Wall” sold 107,000 (up 108%), “Bad” did 97,000 (up 332%) and “Dangerous” blew through 67,000 (up 157%).

In turn, Jackson is still the King of the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart. It tallies albums that are more than 18 months old, have fallen below No. 100 on the Billboard 200 and don’t have a current radio single. Catalog albums are ineligible to appear on the Billboard 200 chart though they can chart on the Top Comprehensive Albums chart.

This week, the entire top 12 albums are all Jackson-related. The singer specifically has the titles at Nos. 1-6 and 9-12, while two Jackson 5 compilations hold down the fort at Nos. 7 and 8.

Top Pop Catalog Albums Chart (Week Ending 7/12/2009)
1) Michael Jackson “Number Ones”
2) Michael Jackson “The Essential Michael Jackson”
3) Michael Jackson “Thriller”
4) Michael Jackson “Off The Wall”
5) Michael Jackson “Bad”
6) Michael Jackson “Dangerous”
7) Jackson 5 “The Ultimate Collection”
8) Jackson 5 “The Best of Jackson 5: 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection”
9) Michael Jackson “Greatest Hits: HIStory — Volume 1”
10) Michael Jackson “HIStory: Past, Present and Future Book 1”
11) Michael Jackson “Invincible”
12) Michael Jackson “The Ultimate Collection”

Jackson’s digital track sales have leveled off in the past tracking week, but still totaled 2.5 million in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, according to Nielsen SoundScan.