A question about the album sales total in the UK (26.3 million) : if I add every album listed here I get around 22.7M, and then adding the smaller compilations and stuff I get maybe... 24M ? Does that mean you're adding the Jackson 5 compilations to his total ? Because I would strongly disagree with that 😉

Love this site by the way.

Hi Nightporter!

Jackson 5 compilations aren't included, you are either underestimating sales of his remaining compilations are missing some of them like Love Songs or 18 Greatest Hits.

Hey 😉

Actually when I said "Jackson 5 compilations" I meant stuff like 18 Greatest Hits which mostly includes Jackson 5 songs. I know some of these were credited to "Michael Jackson & The Jackson 5" but obviously the main reason people bought them is the J5 songs, that's why I think it's questionable to add those to his total...

Hi again Nightporter!

Actually, albums which share songs from both Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 are distributed accordingly to the streaming share of each one. You mention 18 Greatest Hits, you can look here how its sales are assigned. You can see that even if the compilation sold 1.1 million, only 165,000 sales are given to Michael Jackson, because of songs like Ben and Got To Be There, the remaining sales fall into Jackson 5's total.

But I'm not talking about the EAS stuff, I'm talking about the album sales total in the UK (26.3 million) : did you assign compilations like 18 Greatest Hits to his total ?

My bad, I forgot the initial point! Yes, for album sales by country these are officially credited sales, so when he appears explicitely credited (like 18 Greatest Hits), it adds to his total.

This works both ways as various Jackson 5 / Jacksons albums credited only to them involve Michael Jackson solo songs. The latter group top selling compilation foe example, 2004's Very Best Of, includes Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, One Day in Your Life, Ben, Got To Be There, etc. All sales of these records go to Jackson 5 / Jacksons UK album sales total, with nothing going to Michael Jackson as a solo artist.

OK then 😉

Personally I would include compilations featuring mostly J5 songs in the J5 total, and compilations featuring mostly MJ songs in MJ's total. It would certainly decrease his total but I think it's more fair.

Hi. Guinness world record has Michael's sales at 350M (albums+singles) while according to your article he suould be at around +430M. Where do those 80M more records come from? Were those 350M units reported before his death?

Hi, his records are divided like this (by 9/27/17):
Studio album sales: 182,6 million
Other releases: 100 million
Physical single sales: 79,35 million
Digital single sales: 67,5 million
Streaming: 4 million
Total records: 433,5 million

Hi, I was reading his article (MJ's) again and I thought his digital sales were almost 80M. are they included in the "other releases"? and how do you get 4M from streaming?
thank you though

The exact number of digital sales aren’t here, but I remembered the number was in Queen’s CSPC. And the 4 million from streaming I counted by myself (😂) in page 47 (it may be wrong but still +430 million records).

so he surpassed 400M records with almost 200M studio albums that'impressive. Thank you anyways 😂

"Dirty Diana" has passed 100M plays on Spotify, it's the 5th track from "Bad" to do so (after "Smooth Criminal", "Man in the Mirror", "The Way You Make Me Feel" and "Bad").
That is a massive achievement! Only two other pre-2000 albums have achieved this - and no, "Thriller" is not one of them, but that's just a matter of weeks as "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" stands at 97.6M.
So that's one stat where "Bad" actually leads "Thriller".

Biggest 5th track race:

1. Dr. Dre "Xxplosive" ("2001" - 1999) - 108.8M
2. Fleetwood Mac "Never Going Back Again" ("Rumours" - 1977) - 104.0M
3. Michael Jackson "Dirty Diana" ("Bad" - 1987) - 100.9M
4. Michael Jackson "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" ("Thriller" - 1982) - 97.6M
5. 2Pac “Only God Can Judge Me” (“All Eyez On Me” – 1996) – 95.8M

However, "Thriller" is on track to become the first pre-2000 album with four 200M+ tracks.
"P.Y.T." is at 187.7M (following "Billy Jean", "Beat It" and "Thriller")

Biggest 4th track race:

1. Michael Jackson "P.Y.T." ("Thriller" - 1982) - 187.7M
2. Dr. Dre "What's the Difference" ("2001" - 1999) - 171.4M
3. Pearl Jam "Jeremy" ("Ten" - 1992) - 163.6M
4. AC/DC "Hells Bells" ("Back in Black" - 1980) - 150.1M
5. Bob Marley "Waitin' in Vain" ("Exodus" - 1977) - 144.3M

And how are the big three from "Thriller" doing in that race?

Biggest 3rd track race:

1. Guns 'N Roses "Paradise City" ("Appetite for Destruction" - 1987) - 449.3M
2. Fleetwood Mac "The Chain" ("Rumours" - 1977) - 372.6M
3. Dr. Dre "Forgot About Dre" ("2001" - 1999) - 329.4M
4. Red Hot Chili Peppers "Scar Tissue" ("Californication" - 1999) - 323.2M
5. Michael Jackson "Thriller" ("Thriller" - 1982) - 313.0M

While we're at it, let's have the big 2.

Biggest 2nd track race:

1. Nirvana "Come As You Are" ("Nevermind" - 1991) - 516.1M
2. Metallica "Nothing Else Matters" ("Metallica" - 1991) - 490.8M
3. Guns 'N Roses "Welcome to the Jungle" ("Appetite for Destruction" - 1987) - 488.7M
4. Bon Jovi "You Give Love A Bad Name" ("Slippery When Wet" - 1986) - 427.4M
5. Dr. Dre "The Next Episode" ("2001" - 1999) - 425.8M
6. Michael Jackson "Beat It" ("Thriller" - 1982) - 421.7M

Notice that Dr. Dre's "2001" made the top 5 in all four races! Edging "Thriller" out from doing the same.

"Thriller" is also on track to become the first pre-2000 album with SIX 100M+ tracks on Spotify.

Biggest 6th track race:

1. Michael Jackson “Human Nature” (“Thriller” – 1982) – 89.3M
2. Pink Floyd "Brain Damage" ("Dark Side of the Moon" - 1973) - 84.1M
3. 2Pac "How Do You Want It" ("All Eyez On Me" - 1996) - 74.4M
4. Michael Jackson “I Just Can't Stop Loving You” (“Bad” – 1987) – 72.6M
5. Nirvana “Drain You” (“Nevermind” – 1991) – 71.2M

Hi Thomas!

Isn't All About U the 7th biggest track from All Eyez On Me? The title track, Ambitionz Az A Ridah, California Love, 2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted, How Do You Want It and Only God Can Judge Me are all over 74m!