Michael Jackson Fails to Outperform Living Artists :(
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Michael Jackson Fails to Outperform Living Artists, For Once
Dec. 23 2010 - 12:12 am | 21 views | 0 recommendations | 0 comments
By ZACK O'MALLEY GREENBURG
Michael Jackson's album landed at No. 3, which is not bad for someone who's dead.
There aren’t many living musicians who’d be disappointed with opening week album sales of nearly a quarter of a million units and a No. 3 spot on the Billboard chart. Of the artists who’ve passed on to another world, there’s probably just one for whom such a performance would be a letdown: Michael Jackson.
The King of Pop’s posthumous Michael moved 228,000 copies in the U.S. its first week, trailing only No. 2 Susan Boyle’s The Gift and No. 1 Taylor Swift’s Speak Now, which sold 254,000 and 259,000 copies, respectively. Those numbers are certainly respectable, especially considering that Jackson’s work always tends to sell well overseas, but they’re well short of last year’s This Is It soundtrack, which sold 373,000 copies in its first week despite having only one unreleased song.
For a change, Michael Jackson has failed to surpass all his living peers from beyond the grave. Over the past year Jackson earned $275 million — more than any other entertainer, and more than Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Madonna and Jay-Z combined. And his latest effort sits behind Swift’s and Boyle’s on the charts, the new album’s performance is better than many industry insiders expected.
Despite the controversy surrounding the album, Jackson’s long-term earnings prospects are looking better than ever. Michael was the first of many albums of new material scheduled to be released over the next seven years as part of the Jackson estate’s deal with Sony Music, which should bring in $200 million to $250 million over the course of the contract.
Jackson’s estate also received a $60 million advance for last year’s film This Is It; sales of a Jackson-themed videogame, memorabilia and a re-released autobiography brought in an additional $50 million. The estate still owns the rights to Jackson’s music, which took in nearly $50 million on heavy radio play and album sales over the past year and should continue to throw off cash.
And then there’s the Jackson estate’s 50% interest in the Sony/ATV catalog, which contains half a million songs including titles by Elvis Presley, Eminem, Bob Dylan and Beyoncé. Insiders estimate the catalog generates $50 million to $100 million per year, giving it a total value in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion. That means an annual $25 million to $50 million for the estate’s coffers, on top of the considerable sums coming from Jackson’s own music and merchandise.
Even after earning the bronze medal in last week’s album sales derby, the King of Pop’s postmortem reign seems secure.
Sony did not have interest to kill MJ.They well knew killing Michael will not return them their 50%, nor catalog.The only way they can get them back if they buy back offering estate much more than revenue generates now .
Michael Jackson Fails to Outperform Living Artists, For Once
Dec. 23 2010 - 12:12 am | 21 views | 0 recommendations | 0 comments
By ZACK O'MALLEY GREENBURG
Michael Jackson's album landed at No. 3, which is not bad for someone who's dead.
There aren’t many living musicians who’d be disappointed with opening week album sales of nearly a quarter of a million units and a No. 3 spot on the Billboard chart. Of the artists who’ve passed on to another world, there’s probably just one for whom such a performance would be a letdown: Michael Jackson.
The King of Pop’s posthumous Michael moved 228,000 copies in the U.S. its first week, trailing only No. 2 Susan Boyle’s The Gift and No. 1 Taylor Swift’s Speak Now, which sold 254,000 and 259,000 copies, respectively. Those numbers are certainly respectable, especially considering that Jackson’s work always tends to sell well overseas, but they’re well short of last year’s This Is It soundtrack, which sold 373,000 copies in its first week despite having only one unreleased song.
For a change, Michael Jackson has failed to surpass all his living peers from beyond the grave. Over the past year Jackson earned $275 million — more than any other entertainer, and more than Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Madonna and Jay-Z combined. And his latest effort sits behind Swift’s and Boyle’s on the charts, the new album’s performance is better than many industry insiders expected.
Despite the controversy surrounding the album, Jackson’s long-term earnings prospects are looking better than ever. Michael was the first of many albums of new material scheduled to be released over the next seven years as part of the Jackson estate’s deal with Sony Music, which should bring in $200 million to $250 million over the course of the contract.
Jackson’s estate also received a $60 million advance for last year’s film This Is It; sales of a Jackson-themed videogame, memorabilia and a re-released autobiography brought in an additional $50 million. The estate still owns the rights to Jackson’s music, which took in nearly $50 million on heavy radio play and album sales over the past year and should continue to throw off cash.
And then there’s the Jackson estate’s 50% interest in the Sony/ATV catalog, which contains half a million songs including titles by Elvis Presley, Eminem, Bob Dylan and Beyoncé. Insiders estimate the catalog generates $50 million to $100 million per year, giving it a total value in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion. That means an annual $25 million to $50 million for the estate’s coffers, on top of the considerable sums coming from Jackson’s own music and merchandise.
Even after earning the bronze medal in last week’s album sales derby, the King of Pop’s postmortem reign seems secure.
Sony did not have interest to kill MJ.They well knew killing Michael will not return them their 50%, nor catalog.The only way they can get them back if they buy back offering estate much more than revenue generates now .
Comments
Please don't be dissapointed Michael, your movie will be nb. one for sure!!
I think the title is very misleading and it bothers me that the journalist chose this wording. This article could be taken as a slap in the face to Michael or the opposite by his attempt at using sarcasm to say that for Michael "being #3 is a failure" (not so by any means).
He does fail to mention that Michael was the #1 album worldwide for 2010 after only being released for 1 week. That is astounding. It reminds me of Invincible - where they made a lot of us believe that it wasn't worth the money and made it sound like a failure. Hmmm...it was just recently named as album of the decade, I believe, and I love the album but didn't pay it much attention when released because of what was being said about it.
I am glad that I clicked on the link and read some of the comments regarding the article - it made me feel a little better.
Here are some:
Comments
1:16 am on 12/23/10
cawobeth
cawobeth
hmmm…I think you missed a few factual statistics-
” * MICHAEL shipped Platinum in 14 territories including the United States, UK, Germany, France (2x), Italy (3x), Spain, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Belgium, Czech Republic (4x), Canada, Korea and the Middle East.
* The album debuted at #1 in Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Sweden.
* And on top of the # 1 album chart entry in Germany, sales of MICHAELbroke the country’s 2010′s first-week record with over 85,000 units sold.
* Opening week sales of more than 113,000 in the U.K. scored the biggest opening week for a new Michael Jackson studio album since ‘Dangerous’ nearly 20 years ago.
* In Japan, the album is the fourth Michael Jackson album to ever debut in the top 3, joining Bad, Thriller and last year’s “This Is It” companion album.
* The album is in the top five in Belgium (#2), US (#3), Japan (#3), the UK (#4), France (#4), Denmark (#4). In the US, the album shipped platinum and debuted at #3 of the Billboard Album chart with just under 230,000 copies sold.
* The album went Gold in 17 territories on arrival in Japan, China, Australia, Ireland, Austria, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand, India, Philippines and Taiwan.”
compliments of LegendaryMichaelJackson dot com
Enjoy the songs from it. It’s a wonderful holiday gift. Happy Holidays.
1:50 am on 12/23/10
Zack O'Malley Greenburg Zack O'Malley Greenburg The Beat Report
Thanks so much for the details! The number I referenced in the story was U.S.-only, and I didn’t have the international figures handy. Very impressive, and yet another indication of Jackson’s staying power worldwide.
1:23 am on 12/23/10
cawobeth
cawobeth
“Let down” ? What let down ?
This is pretty astounding.
3 is my favorite number, anyway.
Michael was grateful for any & all appreciation of his music and surely pleased as number 3.
If this isn’t enough for MJ fans…oh well.
They should enjoy the songs themselves more than care about ratings.
Zack O'Malley Greenburg Zack O'Malley Greenburg The Beat Report
A letdown only by Jackson’s lofty standards, and I fully expect his legacy to withstand the test of time. I think in 20 years we’ll look back and Jackson will be more highly-regarded — and financially successful in the afterlife — than anyone, even Elvis.
What do you think — who will go down in history as the true King?
Anyway, I'm happy the album is charting well around the world. <!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) -->
good time hah! <!-- s8-) -->8-)<!-- s8-) --> <!-- s;) -->;)<!-- s;) -->
But ratings are not important, what's important are the messages in the songs of the new album... and that Michael will be number one when he will be back ! <!-- s:D -->:D<!-- s:D -->