The surge in sales of Michael Jackson’s music catalog continued Wednesday with the announcement that his recordings dominated the pop charts for the third consecutive week, and a source told The LA Times that more than 9 million of Jackson’s albums have been sold worldwide since his death June 25.
Nielsen SoundScan said Jackson’s albums sold 1.1 million copies over the last seven days and had combined to sell an impressive 2.3 million in the U.S. in the nearly three weeks since he died.
Sony Music, which controls the catalog of his solo adult recordings, declines as a policy to comment on sales issues, but a spokeswoman for the label did not dispute the accuracy of the 9-million figure provided by the source, who has knowledge of Jackson’s global album sales but is not authorized to speak on the matter. Jackson’s music has also topped the pop charts in countries including France, Germany, Australia and the U.K. during the same period.
The dramatic influx of income for the singer’s estate illustrates what’s at stake in the legal battle to name an executor for Jackson’s will.
This month, lawyers for the singer’s mother, Katherine Jackson, 79, filed court papers asking that she oversee his estate. Days later, two of Jackson’s longtime associates — entertainment attorney John Branca and veteran music industry executive John McClain — filed a will the performer signed in 2002 naming them executors. A hearing on the matter of an executor is scheduled for Aug. 3 in Los Angeles.
Although Jackson was about $400 million in debt to various financial institutions, people with knowledge of the singer’s business holdings say his assets outweigh his debt by at least $200 million — and those assets are only increasing with the tremendous record sales.
