Posts Tagged ‘Michael Jackson’

Vinyl and Single Tracks Reach New Heights

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Vinyl_Close_Up.jpg

An interesting article in Billboard.biz showed some new facts about physical and digital goods. New records were set last week with both Vinyl and single track download sales.  Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, and Taylor Swift all surpassed Rihanna’s 9.9 million track sales record. Estimates also say that within the next week the sale of digital tracks should reach the 1 Billion mark. As far as vinyl goes, year to date vinyl sales surpassed last years record of 1.9 million by reaching 2 million. Vinyl has come a long way over the years in music. It has always been looked at as a purer way to listen to the music versus digitally. Many artists and labels are now using this as an enticing way to make sales, packaging mp3 downloads with vinyl purchasing making a great digital/physical combination.

MJ Debuts at #1…Beat It Swift

Monday, November 9th, 2009

So the big MJ made it back on the charts, surprise!. The long time music legend (yes we can call him that now) may not be here physically but his legacy lives on as his music and artistry continues to inspire and move popular culture. “This is It” was released two weeks ago as a documentary containing Michael’s preparation for his then upcoming tour in Europe. The documentary brought in over $20 million its firt day. Having not seen the documentary myself, I asked a few individuals what they had thought about the film and their expectations. Damien Oberlin put it lightly, “throughout the movie people in attendance cheered, clapped, sang out, and even cried. It was THAT – the emotions from inside the theater – I wasn’t expecting.” Her friend, Tara, also commented saying, “I would recommend the movie to anyone. MJ fans and non fans alike…..If you appreciate creativity and artistry, I think it’s definitely something to see.”

You can read about the controversy over distributing Michael’s music after his death in Chritina’s post a few weeks ago, but we have surpassed these issues and fans can be even more excited about his prescence back on music charts this week. Jackson’s new single “This Is It” was recently released along with an album containing remastered versions of number one hits such as “Smooth Criminal” and “Man in the Mirror.” The album also contain demo versions of “Billie Jean” and Beat It.” The album has debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, knocking out Taylor Swift. The documentary will also be released later on this year but pre-orders are already under way. I am sure many Michael fans will be happy this Christmas!