King of Pop Reigns Again: Michael Jackson's Catalog Explodes After Biopic, Crushing Streaming Records!

Published 1 hour ago3 minute read
Precious Eseaye
Precious Eseaye
King of Pop Reigns Again: Michael Jackson's Catalog Explodes After Biopic, Crushing Streaming Records!

Following the release of the Michael biopic, Michael Jackson has shattered his personal record for domestic streaming, experiencing an unprecedented surge in popularity. Projections from late April confirmed that the King of Pop’s solo song catalog amassed a staggering 137.5 million official on-demand streams in the United States between April 24-30, according to Luminate. This figure represents a monumental 146% increase and more than doubles his previous career high.

Before this nine-digit streaming milestone, Jackson's solo catalog had already set a new personal benchmark the previous week with 55.9 million song clicks. Prior to the 'Michael' era, his highest streaming week was 53.7 million streams from October 25-31, 2019, primarily driven by the annual Halloween resurgence of his iconic track, “Thriller.”

The biopic, which covers Jackson’s life from 1966 to 1988, including his tenure with The Jackson 5 and The Jacksons groups, also propelled a massive increase in streams for these acts. The Jackson 5’s catalog registered 10.1 million streams during the tracking week, a 135% jump from the prior week’s 4.3 million. Similarly, The Jacksons saw their tracks surge to 4.9 million clicks, a 57% increase from 2.1 million.

This streaming phenomenon translated into multiple appearances for Michael Jackson across various Billboard charts. He ascended 29-3 on the Billboard Artist 100, a comprehensive chart that gauges artist popularity through streaming, digital song sales, radio airplay, and album sales. His landmark album, Thriller, re-entered the Billboard 200 at No. 7, accumulating 45,000 equivalent album units and marking a substantial 425% weekly improvement. This is Thriller's best chart showing since reaching the same position in December 2022 following its 40th-anniversary reissue. Excluding that celebration, Thriller last charted higher on June 2, 1984, at No. 6, having previously spent 37 weeks at No. 1 across 1983-1984, which remains the most weeks at No. 1 by a singular artist in the chart’s history.

The classic “Billie Jean” led the song recap, maintaining its position as the catalog’s most streamed song with 9.4 million streams and re-entering the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 38, adding its 26th week on the list since its 1983 debut. Beyond Thriller, Jackson placed two more albums in the Billboard 200's top 40: his 2004 compilation Number Ones climbed 20-12 with 37,000 equivalent album units, and the biopic’s official soundtrack, Michael: Songs From the Motion Picture, debuted at No. 37. This marks Jackson’s 18th top 40 project and his first since 2017’s Scream reached No. 33.

Jackson also expanded his presence in the R&B genre, with ten titles on the 50-position Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. “Billie Jean” spearheaded the list at No. 5, followed by “Beat It” (No. 9), “Human Nature” (No. 10), “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough” (No. 11), “Rock With You” (No. 13), “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” (No. 17), “The Way You Make Me Feel” (No. 20), “Smooth Criminal” (No. 22), “Remember the Time” (No. 23), “Dirty Diana” (No. 24), and “Man in the Mirror” (No. 25). Notably, both “Human Nature” and “P.Y.T.” achieved new peaks on this ranking, surpassing their previous maximums of Nos. 27 and 46, respectively.

The extensive activity surrounding Jackson’s music directly reflects the record-setting opening of the Michael biopic itself. Directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson in the title role, the film generated $97 million in its opening weekend in the U.S. and Canada, and $218.8 million worldwide. These figures represent the highest-ever opening for any biopic, highlighting the significant commercial impact of the film.

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