Posthumous Global Sales Reach 9 Million

Since his death, the King of Pop has dominated charts worldwide. Since his unexpected passing he has once again become the most dominant musical figure on the planet.

Michael's albums have locked down the top 10 on the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart in the USA for the past three weeks, selling more than 2.3 million albums, including 1.1 million over the past seven days. At a time when most contemporary stars struggle to reach sales of more than 2-3 million, the numbers are impressive.

But they're even better when sales across the globe are factored in. His albums have perched a top similar charts for example in France, Germany, Australia and England. According to the LA Times, an unidentified source with knowledge of sales figures for the catalog said that more than 9 million albums have been sold worldwide since June 25. While Sony Music, which controls Michael Jackson's solo adult catalog, would not comment on sales figures, a spokeswoman for the label did not dispute the 9 million sales figure.

"We're seeing a real outpouring from fans and consumers who are looking to connect and get past what's happened — the tragedy of his death — through attaching themselves to his music," Gary Arnold, senior entertainment officer for Best Buy, told the Times. Arnold said fans aren't just buying the global breakthrough album Thriller, but rather a broad range of his music, from the early Jackson 5 material to his later solo albums. Furthermore, Arnold predicted sales would remain strong, and possibly surge, through Christmas.

Though Amazon.com doesn't typically reveal sales figures, a spokesperson for the company said customer response to Michael Jackson's death has been unprecedented, resulting in more orders for CDs and MP3s in the first 24 hours after his death than in the previous 11 years the Amazon music store has been open.

Even jukeboxes are seeing a huge uptick in Michael Jackson action, with leading digital jukebox company TouchTunes reporting that the singer's songs were ordered up nearly 1 million times on its 38,000 jukeboxes since his death.

Source: MJFC / MTV