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How many records did Thriller sell in its first week?

iamthriller82

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Now this is a number that I have never known. As we all know, MJ skyrocketed after Thriller, but it did not debut at number 1 which I found to be odd, but all of his records since did. So my question is how many records did it sell in its first week, what position did it debut, and what was number one anyways?

The only figures that I found was that in its peak it did sell 1 million albums per week and it was the highest selling album of 1983 and 1984, besides being the biggest selling album of all time.
 
Interesting question.

I would like to know the answer as well.

I know the album really started taking off after Motown 25 and then the music videos...
 
iamthriller82 said:
As we all know, MJ skyrocketed after Thriller, but it did not debut at number 1 which I found to be odd, but all of his records since did.
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Wow! I didn't know that. In fact, it is interesting that Thriller's first singles was The Girl Is Mine. Maybe it's an explanation for that. But I don't know how many records were sold in the first week.
 
Arslan said:
First week 1 MILLION SALE (Froum Documentaries)
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Really, with those numbers it should have debuted at number one. I thought Thriller started out slow and then with the motown 25, the videos, the tour, and finally the Thriller video it really trounced everyone
 
Before Soundscan, it was very rare for any album to debut at number 1. Pre 1991, only 6 albums had done this (USA), 2 by Elton John, 1 by Stevie Wonder, 1 by Michael Jackson, 1 by Whitney Houston, and 1 by Bruce Springsteen. And that is during the whole time of the charts starting in the 1930s. Sales were estimated from what was shipped and reorders. Also, when Thriller was 1st released, Mike was still considered an R&B act, not a pop act. R&B didn't sell as much as Top 40 mainstream. That was the main reason "The Girl Is Mine" was released 1st. Paul helped Mike get played on the pop stations as Paul was still popular at the time. Top 40 in the US at the time was really white, black acts rarely got played on pop radio after disco died off.
 
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As I understand it, "Thriller" was doing well in stores when it was released, but sales weren't amazing initially. The sales for the album shot up after MJ's performance of "Billie Jean" at motown 25 and then when the video for "Thriller" was released, sales went through the roof selling an estimated 1 million copies per week at it's peak. That's what I read in various reports anyway and saw on an MTV special about MJ as well. Motown 25 and the video for "Thriller" really pushed the album's sales over the top.
 
Cinnamon234 said:
As I understand it, "Thriller" was doing well in stores when it was released, but sales weren't amazing initially. The sales for the album shot up after MJ's performance of "Billie Jean" at motown 25 and then when the video for "Thriller" was released, sales went through the roof selling an estimated 1 million copies per week at it's peak. That's what I read in various reports anyway and saw on an MTV special about MJ as well. Motown 25 and the video for "Thriller" really pushed the album's sales over the top.
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That is because of the reason I mentioned above. I was around then, so don't have to depend on MTV stories. MTV and stories about the time is not going to mention the social background of the period.
 
DuranDuran said:
That is because of the reason I mentioned above. I was around then, so don't have to depend on MTV stories. MTV and stories about the time is not going to mention the social background of the period.
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I've read about that estrategy of releasing The Girl Is Mine as leading single. But thanks for sharing anyway.
 
Once the thriller video came out on mtv thriller record sales skyrocketed to million sales a WEEK
 
I’m sure there has to be a contemporaneous newspaper report of the first-week sales somewhere out there.
 
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