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My bad Dhhd, I'm completely flooded with work lately and this question got out of my mind. I just checked, the real total is 25.69 million, and the figure of 24.163 million is the total of Asian countries listed on YouTube, so basically Asia minus China.
Can you please show numbers of mj's "this is it" video selling 12 million copies..............it's just been bugging me. I find it incredibly hard to believe it sold that much.
Thank you,
Nathan
Ok, if that is the case, what albums was "we are the world" featured on in Mj's discography?
Hi Nathan!
It was indeed an incredible seller, scanning over 1.7 million units in its first week alone in the US. Here, it scanned http://www.the-numbers.com/home-market/dvd-sales/201 0" rel="nofollow">2.78 million DVDs in 2010 and near http://www.the-numbers.com/home-market/bluray-sales/201 0" rel="nofollow">500k Bluray. Then, once the price was down to $9 and $11 for both formats from early 2011, https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Michael-Jacksons-This-Is-It#tab=video-sale s" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">it added $5.96 million and over $1 million, in DVD and BluRay, respectively. That works out in over 750k more sales combined. Add these catalog sales to 2010 units and you get over 4 million sales to date. Since the price was dropped to about $7 at some point, the real number is likely a bit higher. On theaters, the US represented only 28% of its gross.
The DVD / BD was also massive elsewhere - in Japan, it sold 330k units in day 1, then quickly scanned over 1.5 million units, shipping 2 million during its year of release. Some copies were likely exported to near by markets. It did over 650k in the UK at retail, over 550k in France, and over 250k in Italy. While figures for DVDs in countries like Brazil, Germany and Mexico are rare, it no doubt did wonders there. In the former, all his DVDs sold more than in the UK / France, while an unofficial release from 2009 did 540k. Sadly, there is no code system in non-music DVDs, but This Is It may be well over a million in this country. In Australia, Number Ones (DVD) did over 345k, Live In Bucharest did 210k, and This Is It sold way more than both in all markets. In China, it got a limited 75k units edition.
Now that we have Discogs, it would likely be possible to refine its estimate. Owners from the US / Canada add for only 107 out of the 889 Worldwide total.
Why would it need to be on an album? It's an orphan song just like many others for many artists 😉
In this case, the Demo version which sold very well after his passing was made available in 2004 inside The Ultimate Collection box set.
Dude. If you really dont trust this BOZO website then why are u wasting so much time here. If u hated this site so much than just leave it already.
"The RIAA is NOT the authority on record sales…….Anyone using them as a basis in reality as far as the music business is concerned are idiots."
The RIAA is responsible for certifying Gold and Platinum albums and singles in the United States. So r u telling everybody that for decades albums and singles that has been certified platinum and gold and silver are fake? If there is anybody that sounded like a Bozo here it is u.
Hi MJDangerous!
Thanks for your awesome work, which I follow since april 2004 (charts in france, then UKMix) 🙂
Maybe a little study about Michael's sales since his death could be interesting! Thanks.
Have a nice day.
François
Hi,MJD
Dangerous "only" sold 250k copies in the "remaining markets" in Asia. How did the total climb to 2.3 million for Michael?
Hi MJD,
i was just reading some old billboard issues when i found out that prior to april 1. 1991 a gold certification for video longform was 25 000 units and a platinum 50 000 units sold....In fact,just like video singles....
So it means that the 8 times riaa certification of april 17 1989 for "moonwalker" is equivalent to 400 000 sales ....Not the 800 000 that appears on the riaa website.... Am i right or did i make a mistake somewhere ?
I have another question regarding short form albums ... At one time gold was 250 000 and platinum 500 000 ; now it's gold :
500 000 and platinum 1 000 000 just like albums sales ....
Do you know precisely when did the riaa change that certification level ? What year ?
Thanks
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!
