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Thriller 40 Billboard Challenge

staywild23

staywild23

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Hi all! I've been following the MJ Twitter community since the summer and there is a big push on there to get Thriller (the song) to the top of the Billboard charts from October 28 - November 3rd. Last year the song peaked at #19, which gave MJ a new record (if I understand correctly) for being the only artist with 6 decades of top 20 hits (7 if you count his J5 work). Getting Thriller to #1, or even just top 10 this year, would be incredible and break even more records.

Anyway, today the fans behind the campaign debuted a website celebrating Thriller 40 and the goals of the Thriller 40 challenge. Check it out here: https://www.thriller40.com/challenge/

While Billboard only considers American purchases/streams/radio play, the organizers of this campaign are encouraging international fans to stream Thriller like crazy too and also contribute to this Billboard effort by requesting Thriller on American radio. More on this on the website itself.

Regardless of how possible it will be to reach this goal, I find it inspiring and pretty incredible how hard this fan community works for Michael's legacy. The website is beautiful and the passion of this group of fans is just incredible. So if nothing else, please check this out! :)
 
TBH... i think these challenges to bring any song to any chart-position is pointless.. i can accept that MJ is not number one there... he was most of the time.. if they want him to be number one they can do promotion.. but letting the fans do the work while they dont give a shit on our release-wishes is not cool.. also its manipulating the charts.
 
kai said:
TBH... i think these challenges to bring any song to any chart-position is pointless.. i can accept that MJ is not number one there... he was most of the time.. if they want him to be number one they can do promotion.. but letting the fans do the work while they dont give a shit on our release-wishes is not cool.. also its manipulating the charts.
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I have been thinking about the same, just not saying it as I don't want to rain on anyone's parade :). Though I agree! Maybe if Michael was around, I could justify it as showing direct support. Now it just feel like a way to make the fans do all the work to make more money from the releases for the Estate. As for the manipulating, everyone does it so this whole thing is pointless anyway 🤷‍♀️. But if it makes the fans happy to see Michael at top of the charts, then why not.
 
I am not spending my time for that unless the estate releases the things the fans want for decades.
 
kai said:
TBH... i think these challenges to bring any song to any chart-position is pointless.. i can accept that MJ is not number one there... but letting the fans do the work ... also its manipulating the charts.
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I wouldn't disagree with any of this.

Hiker said:
I have been thinking about the same, just not saying it as I don't want to rain on anyone's parade :).
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Exactly. I'm somewhat detached from it all but people are really enjoying it so I love that aspect of it. People are really rallying round Michael which is lovely to see. And they are all having fun. It's not for me but that's fine.

Hiker said:
Though I agree! Maybe if Michael was around, I could justify it as showing direct support. Now it just feel like a way to make the fans do all the work to make more money from the releases for the Estate.
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It does kinda have that feel, doesn't it? Between the family doing the Thriller Challenge and the fans doing all of ... well, everything that they do, it does seem like the Estate's work is being done for them. That said, it's also a lovely way for some fans to show the world how much they love Michael, how important he is, how he is still relevant. So that is all delightful.

Hiker said:
As for the manipulating, everyone does it so this whole thing is pointless anyway 🤷‍♀️.
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I'm old-school so this does feel madly inauthentic and manipulative and pointless. The charts and the sales data back in the day was far from perfect. Not trying to pretend it was. But you needed to sell one million physical copies of your record to get a gold disc. So that felt like it meant something.

But we are where we are and the world is different. Everyone else, presumably, does this stuff for 'their' artist so it does make sense for people to do it for Michael. And he is trending amongst the younger generations on Tik Tok, for example, so we know there is still genuine interest in him. Yeah, the Tik Tok thing might fade quickly (although Chicago seems to be doing great) but it's still a real thing and that is so pleasing. I saw SO many 'Thriller parade' vids online recently. So that's a lovely *physical* thing happening in the real world. This 'challenge' stuff is cyber world stuff (for me!) but it's still real. Everyone knows the rules of the game so bring it on!

Maybe it could also be argued that it's more than just a fun thing to do. Perhaps it also is sending out a positive message about Michael and serving as a counterbalance to some of the negativity.

I think it's fair to say my feelings about all of this are complicated, lol. :D

Hiker said:
But if it makes the fans happy to see Michael at top of the charts, then why not.
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Exactly so. It's raising Michael's profile in a positive, fun way.
 
Well, the good thing about it is that no one has to support this or participate if they don't want to. Lots of fans are and are having fun with it. Last night I spent a few hours in a chatroom on Stationhead for a streaming party and you could see how many people were connecting and having a great time. Total positivity. No fighting. Just straight up love for Michael. In every social media site where I'm part of a fan community, people are talking about it and very excited not so much about the numbers, but about feeling part of something and doing something for him. This is the only fan space I'm on actually where no one seems particularly interested/invested in it. That's fine. Not everyone has to be. And Michael certainly doesn't need more records or to prove anything. But this is an effort fueled by fans out of love for Michael. Other than on here, it's uniting the fan community.
 
I can't see any chart manipulation when Michael Jackson fans organize streaming events. Sometimes it's a little depressing to follow discussions here. No one needs to buy or stream Michael Jacksons music. But if that's the case he's really dead and forgotten and canceled. And I'm glad that's obviously not the case.

BTW: In USA-itunes songs
Thriller is currently on 26 and the edit-version on 44

iTunes US Top 100 Song Downloads · Sajid Nawaz Khan

This is the personal website of Sajid Nawaz Khan, a cheerful and happy guy from Leicester,England.
snkhan.co.uk snkhan.co.uk
 
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Annita said:
I can't see any chart manipulation when Michael Jackson fans organize streaming events.
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I can understand the argument that it is. However, I think about it like this. Michael dominated the charts when he was alive and all the competition were operating under the same rules. Now it's 20+ years later. Every artist in the hot 100 (especially those breaking records like BTS, Taylor Swift, Adele, Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, etc.) does so at least in part - though in many cases I would guess *largely* in part - to streaming events organized by fans. I didn't even know this was a thing 6 months ago but it is. So none of the charts are "authentic" in the way they were when Michael was dominating. It's one of the many things that makes Michael so amazing. But beyond chart position, what events like this prove is that Michael isn't of some bygone era. He is an artist with an active, passionate, and lively fan base who will organize events around him, just like any other current artist today. It proves his relevancy is still strong. In this specific case, he would be charting in the same way and for the same reason that all the biggest artist's today chart and that alone is exciting because it proves his fandom is still growing in spite of SO MANY EFFORTS to destroy it.

I have no idea the end result of this challenge. Who knows if he will even crack top 10. But if he does, I'm excited that I can be a part of it. I wasn't around to support him the first time, but I am now and I'm going to.

Annita said:
Sometimes it's a little depressing to follow discussions here.
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Tell me about it.
 
kai said:
TBH... i think these challenges to bring any song to any chart-position is pointless.. i can accept that MJ is not number one there... he was most of the time.. if they want him to be number one they can do promotion.. but letting the fans do the work while they dont give a shit on our release-wishes is not cool.. also its manipulating the charts.
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This isn't anything to do with the Estate. This is the fans doing it themselves. They're the one that have come up with the idea and are driving it.
 
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