RSS
Home
Michael Jackson memorabilia and music sales soar
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
In the week since Michael Jackson died, 2.3 million downloads of his songs, as well as the increase in sales of his CDs in stores have put the King of Pop at the top of the charts and set a record for digital download sales in a one-week period.
Prior to his death, Michael Jackson songs were downloaded only 37,300 times.
The internet has never seen a surge of one artist being downloaded so much in a short period of time. On Billboard’s digital downloads chart, the song is the same as on Amazon.com. Michael Jackson songs hold the entire top 10. The song Thriller saw 167,000 downloads while Billie Jean found 158,000 new homes.
How sad that it took him being gone to raise the public's interest, and produce enough funds that could have started him on the road to financial recovery...and MJ memorabilia sales have also flooded the market since his unfortunate death. Thousands of people are trying to capitalize on the pop singer's demise, with eBay listings of Michael Jackson-related items skyrocketing to 20,000 the morning after.
A site called Julien's Auctions couldn't have planned it better if they tried--their Summer Sale was scheduled to take place at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas on June 26th--the day after Jackson died. But it wasn't limited stricly to Jackson collectibles —
the catalogue lists over 900 items from numerous celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley — but there are some gems from Jackson’s past. Items on the block include handwritten lyrics to "Bad" (estimate: $500 to $700), a drawing by Jackson of an adolescent boy (estimate: $1,500 to $2,000), and a pearl-and-Swarovski-crystal-studded shirt from the Jacksons' Victory tour (estimate: $1,000 to $1,500). The "Bad" lyrics and the shirt are both from the collection of David Gest.
Folks are also posting their items for sale on sites like Craigslist - all throughout the country, and even in Miami, the site is inundated with "original" LP records, collectible viewmasters, games, posters--one person even posted a "Beat It" jacket for $900 and another lists a yearbook for $900.
Personally, I have an issue with this. No one seemed to care much before he died...yes, he had fans but his music wasn't being downloaded much (as mentioned earlier in this article) and although his ticket sales did well for the upcoming London concerts, this frenzy to sell his memorabilia certainly didn't exist. I suppose if people are willing to buy the merchandise, and the supply and demand are there, then so be it...but it just seems to me that people are doing this for their own benefit, not as true fans who really cared about Jocko.
The Better Business Bureau is reminding collectors to research the value and authenticity of items before buying, always pay for online items by credit card, and take all advertising claims with a grain of salt.
I just hope that as far as his music sales go, that at least some--if not the majority--of the money generated will go to the benefit of the children he left behind. And I guess if the memorabila sales help to stimulate the economy, then it has a positive spin. It will be interesting to see how long the frenzy lasts.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
