[b]6 Million ‘Number Ones And Counting[/b] Saturday, 15 January 2005 By Amit Khanna King Of Pop registers on numerous Year-End Charts as Number Ones album shifts 6 million units worldwide With 2004 now a wrap, Michael Jackson has a reason to smile as a slew of his music releases (from both past and present) charted so consistently throughout the year that he placed in the Top 10 on numerous Year-End Charts around the world. As an added bonus, the artists 2003 Epic/Sony release Number Ones hit the 6 million unit mark worldwide giving Jackson his third multi-platinum album of the 00s. United Kingdom With cumulative sales of approximately 2 million units (CD and DVD), the success of Michael Jacksons Number Ones project in the UK is nothing short of exemplary. In fact, according to figures released by BPI/Official UK Charts Company, the 5X platinum* Number Ones CD was the UK’s fifth best selling album of the year (Oct 2003 to Sept 2004.) Jackson also received another distinction as (for the second year in a row) he placed the most number of albums on the UK End Of Year Top 200 Album Chart with Number Ones, Thriller, and The Very Best Of The Jacksons all making the cut. Its worth noting that in 2003, Jackson similarly achieved this feat with four entries (more than any other artist) as Number Ones, Greatest Hits – HIStory Volume I, Thriller, and Off The Wall all made the Year End Chart that year as well. With an impressive six Jackson albums that entered the UK Top 75 Album Chart, 2004 was a year full of chart surprises to say the least: – Off The Wall re-entered the album chart in July 2004 peaking at #13; – The Very Best Of The Jacksons peaked at #7 in July 2004 eventually being certified UK Gold by the BPI; – Thriller spent a cumulative three months inside the Top 75 peaking at #36; – Bad re-entered the chart in January 2004 peaking at #61; – The Ultimate Collection (4 CD/1 DVD) boxed set peaked at #10 and #75 on the UK R&B Album Chart and UK Top 75 Album Chart respectively (the only boxed set to crack the Top 75 Album Chart in 2004); and – Number Ones continued its lengthy residency on the charts becoming the artists sixth 5X platinum* album in the UK to date. With over 1.6 million units sold and counting, the success of the Number Ones CD in the UK shows no signs of abating as just recently, the album kicked off 2005 by re-entering the UK Top 75 Album Chart at #53. Australia From the land up top to the land down under, 2004 was also a great year for Michael Jackson in Australia . Not only did the artists triple platinum* Number Ones album mark its 58th week on the ARIA Top 40 Urban Album Chart but his Number Ones DVD was also named the #1 Best Selling Music DVD of the Year by the ARIA. With three Jackson albums hitting the charts in 2004, Jackson s chart performance in Australia looked exactly like this: – Number Ones enjoyed a lengthy residency on the charts becoming the 53rd Best Selling Album of the Year and 6th Best Selling Urban Album of the Year (an almost identical distinction the album received in 2003 when after only six weeks of release, it was named the 52nd Best Selling Album of the Year and 9th Best Selling Urban Album of the Year by the ARIA); – Thriller spent a cumulative five months inside the Top 40 of ARIA Urban Album Chart peaking at #22; and – The Very Best Of The Jacksons peaked at #15 and #3 on the ARIA Top 100 Album Chart and ARIA Urban Album Chart respectively with set notching gold* status. With the 8X platinum* Number Ones DVD marking its 55th week on the ARIA Music DVD Chart and the Number Ones and The Very Best Of The Jacksons CDs still holding strong after their 60th and 25th week on the ARIA Top 40 Urban Album Chart, 2005 looks to be another year of solid chart activity for the King Of Pop in Australia. Not to be overlooked, honorable mentions must go to sister country New Zealand where both Number Ones and The Very Best Of The Jacksons were certified double platinum and gold respectively last year. USA In 2004, Michael Jackson was also no stranger to the U.S. music charts as his platinum* Number Ones album and triple platinum* Number Ones DVD were just two of many releases which kept the artist well represented on the charts: – Number Ones (DVD) hit the #1 position on the Billboard Top Music Video Chart in January 2004 eventually scanning a cumulative 250,000 units by the end of the year; – Number Ones (CD) hit the #1 position on the Billboard Top Internet Albums Chart in January 2004 with the album scanning over 800,000 units in the USA to date; – The One (DVD), a commercial release of the artists Number Ones CBS TV special, peaked at #28 on the Billboard Top Music Video Chart in March 2004; – Thriller spent a cumulative two months inside the Top 50 of the Billboard Pop Catalog Chart peaking at #22; – The Ultimate Collection (4CD/DVD) boxed set peaked at #22, #48 and #154 on the Billboard Top Internet Albums Chart, Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart, and Billboard 200 respectively. The five disc collection has scanned over 40,000 units since its release in November 2004; and – Greatest Hits: HIStory Volume I spent a cumulative two months inside the Top 50 of the Billboard Pop Catalog Chart peaking at #28. With over 5 million Epic/Sony era CDs scanned in the United States over the past three years (November 2001 – November 2004) and counting, Jackson s chart activity in his home country is another example of his enduring appeal. Europe 2004 was also an accomplished year for Michael Jackson across Europe as his triple platinum* Number Ones CD and The Ultimate Collection (4CD/1 DVD) boxed set both made their mark on music charts across the continent: – In Ireland, the 5X platinum* Number Ones CD accumulated 37 weeks on the Top 50 Album Chart and ended the year as Ireland’s 33rd best selling album of the year (a significant achievement considering the CD was Ireland’s 9th best selling album of 2003.) Elsewhere on the charts, Off The Wall re-entered the Top 50 Album chart in July 2004 peaking at #12 while The Ultimate Collection (4 CD/1 DVD) rounded out the year peaking at #71; – In France, Number Ones peaked at #5 on the Top 40 Compilation Album Chart while The Ultimate Collection (4 CD/1 DVD) similarly made an impressive showing peaking at #29; – In Spain , Number Ones (both the CD and DVD) were certified with a double dose of gold. The Ultimate Collection (4CD/1 DVD), meanwhile, peaked at #57; and – In Greece, Number Ones spent three months on the album chart peaking at #6 while The Ultimate Collection (4 CD/1 DVD) peaked at #37. Elsewhere across Europe ( Italy , Austria , Denmark , Switzerland , Belgium , Holland , Norway , The Czech Republic, Germany , and the Netherlands ) Number Ones also made it’s mark as the album shifted gold and/or platinum sales in each country. Japan According to figures released by ORICON, Michael Jackson’s Number Ones was Japan ‘s 13th Best Selling Album for the first half of 2004. With The Ultimate Collection (4 CD/1 DVD) recently debuting at #47 on the Top 50 Album Chart, Jackson ‘s Japanese chart action in 2004 was exceptional as the platinum honors continued to grow. Summary From Australia (where the triple platinum* Numbers Ones CD and 8X platinum* Number Ones DVD enjoyed a year long stay on the charts) to the UK (where the 5X platinum* Number Ones CD was named the 5th Best Selling Album of 2003/2004 by the Official UK Charts Company) to the United States (where the platinum* Number Ones CD and 3X* platinum Number Ones DVD became the latest additions in a string of the artist’s platinum/multi-platinum releases) 2004 was a year brimming with professional accomplishments for the King Of Pop. With 2005 already in progress, Michael Jackson might be pleased to know that his Number Ones album kicked off the new year by re-entering the UK Top 75 Album Chart at #53 (climbing to #48 this week) while Number Ones moved ahead to #12 on Australias ARIA Urban Album Chart. Just a reminder that like the artist on stage, the record continues to spin. Source: MJJSource * Certification figure based on shipment information compiled in each respective country/territory. Source: http://mjjsource.com/main/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=352&Itemid=32
6 Million ‘Number Ones And Counting – MJJSOURCE
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