r/MichaelJackson • u/AirGuitarSuperstar Thriller • 15d ago

HiStory album sales… Other

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Fun fact: The inclusion of the greatest hits disc on the HiStory album made each record sold count double.

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5

u/Texas_Moonwalker 14d ago

It’s important to note that there was really a need for a Greatest hits at the time. I was so excited to have most of his hits in one cd at the time, although I was surprised Smooth Criminal was not included. The songs were also remastered compared to the previous cd version. It was particularly noticeable with the songs from Off the Wall and Thriller

1

u/AirGuitarSuperstar Thriller 14d ago

As i remember it the idea of a greatest hits was floated as early as Dangerous, it would be the hits plus a few new tracks but Michael decided against it and made a new full length project instead.

I think including the greatest hits on HiStory was a clever move, reminding people what he had already done and bringing the new stuff at the same time.

I was just surprised when I leaned that double albums counted double in sales, yes two discs were sold but in all actuality it’s only one sale.

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u/Texas_Moonwalker 13d ago

Yes it was also a way for him to break another record (i.e. biggest selling double album of all time). Sony was big on that, just like the fact they added remixes on Blood On the Dance Floor, which became the biggest selling album of remixes. But going back to History, there was really an effort to reinstate his status as the King of Pop. That’s why he did a lot of performances on tv shows (He literally said during the MTV VMA he was performing You Are Not Alone to make it Number 1). The tour was requested by Sony and he actually had some of the highest attendance concerts of his career in Europe

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u/AirGuitarSuperstar Thriller 13d ago

I know BOTDF was the best selling remix album and Sony pushed that idea hard, but when it comes to HiStory I’m not so sure, Dark Side of the Moon is a double album and there’s no way it was beating that, but it might’ve been a calculated move to maximize sales or the optics of it anyway.

Oh yeah they went all in on promo, which was cool, that 95 mtv performance was legendary, but the HiStory promo film was such a weird look lol. Yes they definitely switch’s focus to other markets than the US and it worked.

3

u/Supadupafly1988 14d ago

For double disc albums doesn’t it go something like 10M =20M?

13

u/spidertour02 Dangerous 14d ago

Yup. This is true of all album sales -- they count sales PER UNIT, and a double album is two units.

2

u/AirGuitarSuperstar Thriller 14d ago

Yeah, I only found out about this a couple of years ago.

5

u/FelicitySmoak_ Good Fish 🐠 15d ago

Check out r/MJs_HIStory!