The King of Pop passed away a year ago but his memory lives on in his music. The rate at which Jackson’s albums continue to sell post mortem shows that fans are even more interested in the music legend now more than ever. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Jackson was the best selling artist of 2009, having sold 8.2 million albums despite the fact that his last album was released in 2003 (Number Ones).
Although MJ is arguably one of the best selling artists of all time, behind The Beatles and Elvis Presley, Nielsen Soundscan has only been tracking albums since 1991 and, therefore, ranks him as the 18th best selling artist in the SoundScan era.
Nevertheless, Jackson’s estate will continue to generate hundreds of millions over the long term. Earlier this year, his estate inked a deal with Jackson’s label partner Sony’s Columbia Epic Label Group, worth up to $250 million and which The New York Times is stating that may be and perhaps the largest in history. While many record labels are avoiding mega deals with artists in this new music age, Jackson is one of the few artists in history that can earn and carry such a contract.
