Jackson Fans Flood Digital Music Services:
It's not unusual for artists to see digital sales and streams spike after being featured in the news. But like everything else he did in life, Michael Jackson took this to a new level in his death.
As word of the pop superstar's passing spread, fans both old and new flocked to digital music services to snatch up his most popular tracks and albums. Whether it was out of nostalgia or curiosity, sources close to several digital retailers say they saw an unprecedented jump in sales in the hours following the tragic news.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the most noticeable impact came on iTunes, the dominant digital retailer, which featured an image from Jackson's "Thriller" era at the top of its homepage. Jackson now holds the top seven of the 10 best-selling albums list, with "The Essential Michael Jackson" ($16.99) weighing in at No. 1, followed by "Thriller" ($9.99) another best-of album "Number Ones" ($9.99) , "Off the Wall" ($9.99), the 25th anniversary reissue of "Thriller" with the zombie cover ($13,99) , "Bad" ($9.99), and digital box set "Michael Jackson: the Ultimate Collection" ($34.99).
In all, Jackson albums represent 10 of the top 15, and 21 of the top 100. "Dangerous comes in at 11 ($9.99), "Michael Jackson Greatest Hits: HIStory Vol. I" ($9.99) at 11, "Jackson 5: The Ultimate Collection" ($11.99) at 14, and the special edition of "Off the Wall" ($9.99) at 15. Sony Music says prices of Jackson's catalog were not altered after his death.
As for songs, Jackson has 13 of the top 25 songs sold on iTunes, and 54 of the top 100.
They include:
2. Man in the Mirror (99-cents)
4. Thriller ($1.29)
5. The Way You Make Me Feel (99-cents)
6. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough ($1.29)
9. Smooth Criminel (99-cents)
12. Billie Jean ($1.29)
13. Black or White (99-cents)
17. Beat It ($1.29)
18. P.YT. ($1.29)
20. Rock With You (99-cents)
22. I'll Be There ($1.29)
23. Bad (99-cents)
24. I Want You Back ($1.29)
Similar results are apparent on iTunes rival Amazon, which features a Jackson tribute on not only the MP3 store homepage, but also on the main page for the entire service, linking to every album in stock, both CD and MP3, along with a list of his best-selling MP3s. The service also added a link for users to share their thought, memories and condolences.
On Amazon, Jackson is listed as the No. 1 artists of the day, has 13 of the top 25 songs sold, and 11 of the top 25 digital albums.
Top Songs:
2. Thriller ($1.29)
3. Man In the Mirror (99-cents)
5. Billie Jean ($1.29)
8. Beat It ($1.29)
9. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) ($1.29)
10. The Way You Make Me Feel (99-cents)
12. Smooth Criminal (99-cents)
15. Rock With You (99-cents)
17. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (99-cents)
20. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' (99-cents)
22. Black or White (99-cents)
23. Bad (99-cents)
24. Remember the Times (99-cents)
Top Albums:
3. "Thriller" ($9.99)
4. "Essential Michael Jackson" ($16.99)
5. "Number Ones" ($9.99)
7. "Thriller 25th Anniversary" ($9.99)
8. "Off the Wall" ($9.99)
9. "Bad" ($12.99)
12. "Dangerous" ($8.99)
13. "Off the Wall Special Edition" ($12.99)
14. "The Ultimate Collection: Jackson 5: ($9.49)
21. "Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection" ($34.99)
24. "HIStory-Past, Present And Future" ($16.99)
While Jackson was always a top catalog seller, he never held this many top sales positions on either service in the past, nor has any other artist commanded as many positions in an individual service's sales lists to date.
However reaction was mixed on other digital services, with much of the data still unavailable for analysis. Rhapsody's Web-based service has a "Remembering Michael Jackson" promo on the main page, but it does not appear on the Rhapsody program subscribers download to their PC.
Interestingly, Jackson appears nowhere on Rhapsody's featured artists/music bar, nor does his music appear anywhere on the top songs, albums or tracks Top 10 lists. He does appear on Rhapsody's Top Playlists list at No. 9, where a user created an "RIP Michael Jackson playlist." Napster meanwhile leads its streaming Web service with a "Best of Michael Jackson 1958 - 2009" image and link, but none of his music appears on the top 10 artists, albums or songs charts for the service.
Personalized radio service Slacker put together a Michael Jackson Tribute channel that includes not only Jackson's greatest hits, but also covers from the likes of Justin Timberlake, Usher, Ne-Yo, Alicia Keys, and others. The company says it has become one of the most popular channels, but has not yet compiled specific data. Project Playlist, which settled a copyright infringement lawsuit with Sony Music last December and now licenses the label's catalog, created a huge "Remembering Michael Jackson" splash on its front page, complete with a staff playlist as well. And Pandora is reporting a massive spike in users creating Jackson-themed radio stations, as well as a flood of comments in the Backstage community section of the service.
In addition to a rash of planned on-air coverage, MTV is posting artist call-ins, Twitter messages and other user-generated comments, MTV has covered the news online and made available most of Jackson's back catalog of videos and special MTV appearances. According to data provided by MTV, the company's Web site saw its third highest unique visitor totals for one day ever at more than 1.7 million, up almost 80% from the week prior. Visits to Jackson's artist page on MTV skyrocketed 12,043%. Six of the top 10 streaming videos for the day were Michael Jackson's.
Video streams on MTVMusic.com jumped 123% from Wednesday, with Michael Jackson videos representing almost 60% of all videos streamed. VH1.com is also generating traffic, with visits up 35% over a week ago.
iLike is inviting fans to create memorial playlists on Facebook. More than 1,200 fans responded within 10 minutes of the promotion, and as of 8 a.m. EDT that number grew to more than 6,200.
Mobile operator Verizon Wireless added a special tribute section to its VCast Music page and is developing addition features to go live next week. A spokeswoman says the operator has seen a noticeable uptick in both ringtone and ringback sales, but it's too early to provide specific data.
The interest in Jackson's work is not limited to authorized channels either. According to P2P tracking firm BigChampagne, there has been a significant spike in both tracks and albums from the artist.
Music aside, Jackson's death also dominated the conversation on Twitter. Trending topics overtook that of the Iranian Election and Farrah Fawcett's death before the mainstream media even officially confirmed Jackson's passing, and Facebook updates saw similar spikes as members posted eulogies to their profiles.
Most digital services are only getting their tributes and special promotions live today. More information on their results and feedback will likely become available after the weekend.
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