Michael Jackson

Report: Posthumous Michael Jackson Album to Sell at iTunes

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 14, 2009 - 11:40am.

San Francisco - The posthumous Michael Jackson Album "This Is It" will be sold on Apple's iTunes Store on Oct. 27, meaning either Sony Music/Epic Records has caved and will sell individual tracks in addition to the full album, or Apple has made an exception to its policy of only accepting albums if they are also made available for purchase as individual tracks, Wired.com reports. An earlier report had proffered that the album would be absent from iTunes, due to Apple's policy. Epic Records SVP of publicity Lois Najarian told Wired.com the company is currently working on the bundling issue.

Update: Wired.com reports that a compromise of sorts has been struck, which will see iTunes will stock both the full album, and a separate, six-song EP containing the previously unreleased tracks.

Buzz Watch: Michael Jackson and The Eternal Moonwalk

Authored by Jay Baage on July 7, 2009 - 11:23am.

The first audience figures are in for Michael Jackson’s memorial service. CNN.com’s live stream of the event drew at least 9.7 million views (through 5pm ET), with a maximum of 781,000 concurrent viewers, according to Mashable, making it one of the biggest online video events so far, shy of President Obama’s inauguration 13.9 million live streams. But DMW contributor Rohit Bhargava pointed me in the direction of another online video tribute to The King of Pop which in my opinion is even more touching and personal than the Staples Center Memorial and it really shows you how big and global his fanbase really is in a clever way. Check it out here.

Michael Jackson Memorial Tickets For Sale on eBay, Craigslist Hit $30,000

Authored by Jay Baage on July 6, 2009 - 12:47pm.

Los Angeles - More than 1.6 million fans registered in the online lottery to win free double passes to the Michael Jackson memorial service at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Yesterday the lucky 8750 ticket winners were sent a confirmation email and almost immediatly tickets started showing up for sale by individuals on eBay and Craigslist for up to $30,000.

tags: Music | Live Music | Michael Jackson | Staples Center |

Michael Jackson Breaks Digital Song Sales Records

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 1, 2009 - 7:50am.

Los Angeles - Michael Jackson has sold a record 2.6 million digital songs in one week, up from 48,000 a week ago, according to sales data compiled by SoundScan. The feat makes Jackson the first artist to sell over a million downloads in a single week.

Sirius XM Debuts Michael Jackson Tribute Channel

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 29, 2009 - 10:58am.

New York - Sirius XM (NASD: SIRI), the satellite radio firm with major operations in DC, on Saturday launched The Michael Jackson Tribute Channel, honoring the pop music icon who died last week. The limited-run channel, featuring Jackson's music, as well as interviews and stories from other artists, will air through midnight Monday on Sirius channel 51 and XM channel 62.

tags: Music | Michael Jackson | Sirius XM |

Death of Michael Jackson Spikes News Traffic, Music Sales

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 26, 2009 - 8:07am.

San Mateo, Calif. - As news spread about Michael Jackson's death on Thursday, fans and curiosity seekers inundated the Internet for information, slowing several major news sites to a crawl, according to website performance measurement firm Keynote Systems. The firm said that during the early evening hours, sites including ABC, CBS, the L.A. Times and AOL became nearly unavailable (down to nearly 10% availability).

Promotion Lets Users Star in Michael Jackson's "Thriller" Video

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 11, 2008 - 9:57am.

Pasadena, Calif. - Sony (NYSE: SNE) BMG's Epic/Legacy Recordings on Friday announced a promotion for the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album, in the form of a video mashup that will let users insert themselves as Jackson in the legendary music video to the title track. The label teamed with Big Stage and YouTube (NASD: GOOG) on the promotion, which prompts users to upload photos of themselves, which will then be turned into a 3D avatar by Big Stage and integrated into a version of the video with its own YouTube page.

Simon Cowell Signs Michael Jackson to British X-Factor

Authored by Scott Goldberg on October 7, 2007 - 7:00am.

Michael Jackson will make his first TV Appearance in Years on British X-Factor

ITV and Simon Cowell made a “sensational signing” by grabbing Michael Jackson for the British version of X-Factor. His first appearance will be in early December, and he will play a mentor to the show’s contestants, some of whom are as young as 14. A “huge coup both for the talent search show and ITV,” The Sun said, it will be Jackson’s first television appearance since his interview with Martin Bashir on ITV (see it here) that led to being charged with child molestation and conspiracy. He was acquitted in 2005.