The Michael Jackson Chart Watch

[filmandmusic]

I think this is a really important point. This year I watched the Billboards solely for the Maxwell tribute to MJ and what was interesting is they added a category of awards for artists whose songs charted because they blew up on TikTok. Largely unsigned artists. When I look at top streaming, especially, it's very obvious that popularity comes and goes and most of the people on there won't be relevant in a couple months or years. To put it in perspective, I love to check out the Billboard Hot 100 artists (MJ has been in there every time I have looked this year, which is typically weekly). But Beyonce has barely ever been on it, if at all. Why? She hasn't released anything in awhile. However, she's due to release something next month, so I fully expect her streaming to explode.

I guess my point in saying that MJ is impressive is that he is gone and nothing has been released in YEARS and yet he is still consistently charting and showing up streaming a ton, while contemporary powerhouses fall off the charts when they don't regularly release stuff. I think that's impressive!


He also had a biopic come out a couple years ago! It was successful and nominated for some awards (may have won some, I have no idea). I got really into Elton John in middle/high school because of "Elton John" night on American Idol lol. You never know where these people's music is being featured for the youth to enjoy lol.

As for The Beatles, they also have a hugely popular documentary series out right now, either on Hulu or Disney+, I don't remember. Plus, they are The Beatles. I am not actually a huge fan of them, but their legacy has never faced any challenge that I'm aware of.



I wouldn't worry about what album is keeping him relevant right now. Thriller will always be his biggest album, and the avenue to new fans. It's not a bad thing, really. The only album I'm really sad for is HIStory because it never shows up in any charts and it's so good.

If you want to feel better, or encouraged, about Michael's streaming, think about all of the MAJOR artists that don't appear on any of these lists. Artists with huge legacies, icon status, legend status. No where on those lists. Michael always is though. Though I'll never understand why he isn't permanently a top 20 fixture, I also wasn't even a fan until this year when I was re-exposed to him via random videos on Facebook, and now I'm a borderline psycho fan so... 🤷‍♀️

That’s odd that Beyonce dropped off, I don’t follow her musical career at all but I figured she was one to stay relevant of the more recent crop of top stars.

Yes I’m aware of the Beatles doc and the Elton biopic but I think the effect of both those projects has passed by now, the Queen film really was kind of a phenomenon. I think the source of Elton’s resurgence comes from this remix I just remember called “ cold cold heart” which was originally “sacrifice”, it is closing in on 1 billion streams! But he has other tracks scoring big time so he was doing great without that remix too.
But I think it is weird because Prince, David Bowie and Madonna haven’t really hit the huge numbers on Spotify yet, I guess their time is still to come. I definitely expect Elvis to explode in the coming months.
I don’t think T40 will be big unless it is marketed like hell.

Michael was consistently in the top 40 on Spotify years ago but he dropped off in recent years hovering around places 80 to 110.
Another thing that is just odd is that the thriller song hasn’t even reached the 500 million milestone yet, as it is one of the most recognizable tunes in pop history…

HIStory is basically carried by TDCAU all the other tracks are completely forgotten but there is a lot of potential there with the likes of earth song or stranger in moscow.

 

[travis3000]

Elton John also has had a big hit on radio the last 10+ months: Cold Heart with Dua Lipa. It gets massive radio play in the UK, Australia, US and Canada. The song even went #1 in the UK, #1 in Canada (5th longest number 1 in Canadian history). It also went #7 on Billboard Hot 100 in the US.

I can guarantee this is why Elton John is doing so well.

 

[filmandmusic]

Yeah I remember the track, it is a quite catchy remake. I had no idea it became this massive. Man I hope MJ gets to score a hit of this magnitude again. If Elton John and Kate Bush can do it…
You know love never felt so good perhaps underperformed considering how big JT has been then. A year later he would score a worldwide smash with “ can’t stop the feeling”. You’d think a duet with MJ would have been bigger than it was ( though it by no means underperformed reaching top 10 in major markets).

Just finish the duets with Freddy Mercury and go for that billion streams I’d say!

 

[ChanceToDance]

Elton John also has had a big hit on radio the last 10+ months: Cold Heart with Dua Lipa. It gets massive radio play in the UK, Australia, US and Canada. The song even went #1 in the UK, #1 in Canada (5th longest number 1 in Canadian history). It also went #7 on Billboard Hot 100 in the US.

I can guarantee this is why Elton John is doing so well.

A lot of people seem to be against it but this is why I support pairing MJ with current artists, it does wonders to boost their numbers. If the Estate put a remix on Thriller 40 featuring TheWeeknd (which I bet it will) I will be all for it.

 

[staywild23]

Elton John also has had a big hit on radio the last 10+ months: Cold Heart with Dua Lipa. It gets massive radio play in the UK, Australia, US and Canada. The song even went #1 in the UK, #1 in Canada (5th longest number 1 in Canadian history). It also went #7 on Billboard Hot 100 in the US.

I have truly never heard of this in my life lol. I am really, truly, out of touch.

But this is a great explanation. Thank you!

 

[staywild23]

That’s odd that Beyonce dropped off, I don’t follow her musical career at all but I figured she was one to stay relevant of the more recent crop of top stars.

I really don't follow her either. But I took notice of her absence on the charts. It just shows how fickle it all is. Also, that popularity/legacy is much more than streaming alone!

Yes I’m aware of the Beatles doc and the Elton biopic but I think the effect of both those projects has passed by now, the Queen film really was kind of a phenomenon. I think the source of Elton’s resurgence comes from this remix I just remember called “ cold cold heart” which was originally “sacrifice”, it is closing in on 1 billion streams! But he has other tracks scoring big time so he was doing great without that remix too.
But I think it is weird because Prince, David Bowie and Madonna haven’t really hit the huge numbers on Spotify yet, I guess their time is still to come. I definitely expect Elvis to explode in the coming months.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply you weren't aware of those films. I was just sort of working through it on my end. I often think of Prince, Bowie, and Madonna as examples of people with huge legacies, who are not appearing the way Michael is. Also people like The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, etc. Not that they were all necessarily even comparable to MJ when it came to radio popularity. I just mean in terms of artists with strong legacies. There really are tons though. When I rewatched the Making of We Are The World somewhat recently, I took note of the fact that even though I could identify 95% of the artists, I doubt younger audiences could, except for Michael and maybe a couple other people. Just interesting to think about.

I don’t think T40 will be big unless it is marketed like hell.

Well, technically that's true of everything 😊

But I know what you're saying.

Michael was consistently in the top 40 on Spotify years ago but he dropped off in recent years hovering around places 80 to 110.
Another thing that is just odd is that the thriller song hasn’t even reached the 500 million milestone yet, as it is one of the most recognizable tunes in pop history…

HIStory is basically carried by TDCAU all the other tracks are completely forgotten but there is a lot of potential there with the likes of earth song or stranger in moscow.

Very true! Also, I wasn't aware of where he was in Spotify streaming for years. Part of the fall might be that the catalog of availability on Spotify continues to dilute, because there's just soooo much out there.

Somehow I didn't even think about TDCAU when I thought about HIStory. You're right... at the very least it is known for that! I agree there is soooo much potential for HIStory to become more popular. Really, his entire catalog outside of Thriller is ripe with possibility!

Anyway, this may be an example of when I'm annoyingly optimistic. I just feel super positive about the future of Michael's legacy. It may be misguided, but it's what guides most of the things I say on here lol.

 

[travis3000]

Spotify rankings are highly reflective on what is charting right now. Some legacy acts can pull in impressive numbers if they collaborate with new artists, have new releases, the artist makes high profile appearances, etc. There's a reason why out of the Top 100 artists on Spotify, 93 of them are all modern post year 2000 acts. Very few bands/musicians from the 50's-90's are there. The fact that Michael Jackson remains in the top 100 despite being dead for 13 years, having more negative publicity than anyone else, and having no new releases is a testament to the power of his music catalogue.

 

[staywild23]

https://imgur.com/a/UaLY2tK

AMAZING!! I personally contributed 7 of these lol.

 

[filmandmusic]

I would like to see a breakdown of that number. I’m curious if albums like Dangeorus or Invincible still sell. They obviously don’t sell enough to enter charts like thriller but I like to see the difference In sales

 

[staywild23]

I would like to see a breakdown of that number. I’m curious if albums like Dangeorus or Invincible still sell. They obviously don’t sell enough to enter charts like thriller but I like to see the difference In sales

I'm also curious about this! Also wondering if this includes Thriller 40 pre-orders?

 

[Nite Line]

After the first half of 2022, Number Ones has sold units of 62,200 in the UK. At the same stage last year, it had sold 57,200, so this is a nice increase. For the whole of 2021, Number Ones ended up selling a total of 119,800. Considering that it has already sold more at this stage this year than it did last year and we still got Thriller 40 to come, I can bet my house that it will sell more total units in 2022.

Also, by units, I mean pure sales & streams combined.

 

[Nite Line]

I would like to see a breakdown of that number. I’m curious if albums like Dangeorus or Invincible still sell. They obviously don’t sell enough to enter charts like thriller but I like to see the difference In sales

Unfortunately, it is probably impossible to see a breakdown of sales. Albums like Dangerous, History, Invincible don't sell enough to chart anywhere. Most of these album units sold in the US are from Thriller or The Essential Michael Jackson, which are two albums that chart regularly or almost regularly on Billboard 200.

 

[staywild23]

Unfortunately, it is probably impossible to see a breakdown of sales. Albums like Dangerous, History, Invincible don't sell enough to chart anywhere. Most of these album units sold in the US are from Thriller or The Essential Michael Jackson, which are two albums that chart regularly or almost regularly on Billboard 200.

You know what I never understand about this though? How does someone buy Thriller and The Essentials, or Number 1s and feel capable of stopping there?! Like, how are some people able to casually listen to Michael Jackson? How do people not become totally obsessed? This is an absolute mystery to me.

 

[Nite Line]

You know what I never understand about this though? How does someone buy Thriller and The Essentials, or Number 1s and feel capable of stopping there?! Like, how are some people able to casually listen to Michael Jackson? How do people not become totally obsessed? This is an absolute mystery to me.

I know right. If I listen to a song like Black or White on some greatest hits album , I will be tempted to check out the album it is from. If I listen to Thriller, I will be tempted to check out his other albums. But unfortunately most people don't do that. Most fans are casual in nature. They only really care about an artist's greatest hits or their biggest ever album. Hardcore fans like us are very small in number compared to the casual fans.

 

[staywild23]

I know right. If I listen to a song like Black or White on some greatest hits album , I will be tempted to check out the album it is from. If I listen to Thriller, I will be tempted to check out his other albums. But unfortunately most people don't do that. Most fans are casual in nature. They only really care about an artist's greatest hits or their biggest ever album. Hardcore fans like us are very small in number compared to the casual fans.

I guess that's the part that's so hard for me to understand! Like, look, I get that every artist has their hardcore fan base. But (and I'm going to sound biased here, of course) I feel like Michael's fan base should be like 90% hardcore and 10% casual lol. I just feel like he is too great to not generate obsession in every person who encounters him 😂 Because not only should someone hear a song from a compilation and follow that up with wanting to learn the entire album it came from, but I feel like if you actually listen to Thriller from start to finish, there is no way to avoid being so blown away by it that you want to check out every single album the man released. If you find something incredible, why would you not want to soak up every ounce of that greatness in every way that you can?!

But, I get it. Tons of artists that other people love and I'm basically indifferent to them. I just feel like Michael is objectively the best and I refuse to hear otherwise 😂

 

[filmandmusic]

I hate how so many greatest hits albums were released at one point. Number ones and the essential and King of pop, this is it, scream etc they just keep stealing sales from each other. It really should have been just number ones. It’s a decent selection for casuals and sales wouldn’t have been so spread out. Plus the title has got a nice ring to it lol
Add to that they initially didn’t sell well because HIStory already had greatest hits covered.

In general though i’m not a fan of greatest hits albums, it takes the focus out of studio albums, people just aren’t inclined to explore an artists discography if they have the choice to go for hits only and thus studio albums become irrelevant over time.

 

[Nite Line]

"

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1543346175331504128

"

 

[Nite Line]

It seems like Chicago is getting viral now.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1543331175833473024

 

[zinniabooklover]

I hate how so many greatest hits albums were released at one point. Number ones and the essential and King of pop, this is it, scream etc they just keep stealing sales from each other. It really should have been just number ones. It’s a decent selection for casuals and sales wouldn’t have been so spread out. Plus the title has got a nice ring to it lol
Add to that they initially didn’t sell well because HIStory already had greatest hits covered.

In general though i’m not a fan of greatest hits albums, it takes the focus out of studio albums, people just aren’t inclined to explore an artists discography if they have the choice to go for hits only and thus studio albums become irrelevant over time.

This.

Well, almost. I have Number Ones and Essential and need both of them. They are doing different jobs, tbf. Beyond Essential, I'm not sure how many more are needed. Plus, I'm now thinking TUC. Which I don't even have cos it's been discontinued. But it has We've Had Enough on it so if it was still around I'd def buy it. But, yeah, ordinary compilations of previously released material, having too many of them isn't helpful.

 

[filmandmusic]

It seems like Chicago is getting viral now.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1543331175833473024

I wouldn’t think too much of this, a track like I want you back gets over 300 000 streams a week. Kate Bush’s song gets dozens of millions a week.
Chicago probably ended up in some playlist which resulted in a slight rise of streams.

 

[staywild23]

I wouldn’t think too much of this, a track like I want you back gets over 300 000 streams a week. Kate Bush’s song gets dozens of millions a week.
Chicago probably ended up in some playlist which resulted in a slight rise of streams.

I think it's always worth celebrating when a song starts getting increased attention. Any additional exposure is good! It may not all be at the level of a song that got an incredible platform by being on the most popular TV show right now. But that's no reason not to enjoy and celebrate the wins we do get!

 

[filmandmusic]

I think it's always worth celebrating when a song starts getting increased attention. Any additional exposure is good! It may not all be at the level of a song that got an incredible platform by being on the most popular TV show right now. But that's no reason not to enjoy and celebrate the wins we do get!

Alright miss optimistic, you’re quite right 😇

 

[Nite Line]

I wouldn’t think too much of this, a track like I want you back gets over 300 000 streams a week. Kate Bush’s song gets dozens of millions a week.
Chicago probably ended up in some playlist which resulted in a slight rise of streams.

Lol you make it seem like I Want You Back is some unknown song. It is one of the most iconic and famous songs of all time. On the other hand, Chicago is a forgotten posthumous track.

Kate Bush's song is getting millions of streams a week, because it is part of a famous TV show. Songs like Heaven Can Wait and Chicago's sudden increase in popularity is due to them getting viral on tiktok. Their increase in popularity is more organic.

Also, Chicago was getting less than 10,000 streams a day in May. Now it is getting 50,000+ a day, which is more than a slight rise of streams.

 

[Nite Line]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1543338725886812161

 

[filmandmusic]

Lol you make it seem like I Want You Back is some unknown song. It is one of the most iconic and famous songs of all time. On the other hand, Chicago is a forgotten posthumous track.

Kate Bush's song is getting millions of streams a week, because it is part of a famous TV show. Songs like Heaven Can Wait and Chicago's sudden increase in popularity is due to them getting viral on tiktok. Their increase in popularity is more organic.

Also, Chicago was getting less than 10,000 streams a day in May. Now it is getting 50,000+ a day, which is more than a slight rise of streams.

I never asked you to be so logical, just leave me in my ignorant state 😑

 

[Nite Line]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1545867888829104128

Chicago passes 100,000 daily streams for the first time.

 

[staywild23]

https://imgur.com/a/OMNCbN6

I logged into TikTok for the first time in ages and I have to admit, it was fun to see all the people loving and discovering this song. Most use a sped up version (which I guess is just a TikTok thing) but it was still cool. It makes me so happy to see his songs trending. I saw another tweet that You Are Not Alone is gaining some traction. We shall see!

 

[filmandmusic]

https://imgur.com/a/OMNCbN6

Most use a sped up version

ANOTHER chipmunk version! Do young people have no taste at all?!?

 

[staywild23]

ANOTHER chipmunk version! Do young people have no taste at all?!?

Yeah I have absolutely no clue why this is a thing lol. I don't use tik tok at all though. I joined it solely to creep MJ trends.

But focus on the positive!! 😇

 

[filmandmusic]

But focus on the positive!! 😇

Of course 😇

It so far has never been into that top 10 MJ streamed tracks on spotify. Heaven can wait is in the top (ranging from 7 to 10) for over a month now. So this must mean that HCW has well over 100 000 a day as well.