Sunday, 28 June 2009
Micheal Jackson Songs Fill 43 Places On The Top 200
Music industry experts described the sales impact of the King of Pop's sudden passing as "unprecedented" and "explosive".
Last night his best-of album reached No 1 in the UK charts, with four of his other albums also entering the Top 20. Forty-three of the Top 200 singles feature the singer.
As the first pop superstar to die since the digital revolution made music easily available online through websites such as iTunes, Jackson's posthumous sales are expected to dwarf those of Elvis Presley and John Lennon.
Eamonn Forde, music industry analyst and contributing editor of Music Week said that Jackson's death was "far, far bigger than the The Beatles making their back catalogue digitally available".
"Because of the instant gratification of digital, a lot of people who would never have bothered going to the record shop are buying Michael Jackson songs, because they can do it with a couple of clicks from their bedroom," he said.
"The last time we saw such interest in a particular artists was when Sir Elton John released Candle in the Wind after Princess Diana's death, but a whole industry was required to get those records to the shops. There are no such restrictions this time."
Concrete sales figures since Jackson's death are not yet available, but industry sources said that well in excess of 100,000 of his records had been bought or legally downloaded in the UK since Thursday. At one stage on Friday his albums filled the top 14 places on the online retailer Amazon's sales ranking.
Jackson was an even bigger star in the world's two biggest music markets – the US and Japan – where his albums have also jumped up the charts.
However, record sales are just the tip of the iceberg. "The real money will be made through royalty fees, every penny of which should go to his estate," said Gennaro Castaldo of HMV, the music retailer.
"You could not walk along any street this weekend without hearing Michael Jackson's music coming out of almost every shop radio. If you replicate that across the world, you are looking at millions of pounds."
The renewed appetite for his music will be exploited by the release of "new" Jackson material, ensuring the sales boost is drawn out over weeks and months.
The star is understood to have collaborated with some of the biggest names in urban music, including Will. I. Am of the Black Eyed Peas, on an as-yet-unnamed album, and he reportedly left 200 unpublished songs to his children in his will to secure their future in the event of his bankruptcy.
Sony Music is also understood to be preparing a new compilation album.
The income will go some way to easing the precarious financial position in which Jackson left his estate. His executors may be forced to sell the singer's lucrative share in the Beatles back catalogue to help clear his estimated £200 million debt.
"Quite frankly, he may be worth more dead than alive," said Jerry Reisman of the Hit Factory recording studio, where Jackson produced his best-selling album Thriller.
Daily Telegraph
Last night his best-of album reached No 1 in the UK charts, with four of his other albums also entering the Top 20. Forty-three of the Top 200 singles feature the singer.
As the first pop superstar to die since the digital revolution made music easily available online through websites such as iTunes, Jackson's posthumous sales are expected to dwarf those of Elvis Presley and John Lennon.
Eamonn Forde, music industry analyst and contributing editor of Music Week said that Jackson's death was "far, far bigger than the The Beatles making their back catalogue digitally available".
"Because of the instant gratification of digital, a lot of people who would never have bothered going to the record shop are buying Michael Jackson songs, because they can do it with a couple of clicks from their bedroom," he said.
"The last time we saw such interest in a particular artists was when Sir Elton John released Candle in the Wind after Princess Diana's death, but a whole industry was required to get those records to the shops. There are no such restrictions this time."
Concrete sales figures since Jackson's death are not yet available, but industry sources said that well in excess of 100,000 of his records had been bought or legally downloaded in the UK since Thursday. At one stage on Friday his albums filled the top 14 places on the online retailer Amazon's sales ranking.
Jackson was an even bigger star in the world's two biggest music markets – the US and Japan – where his albums have also jumped up the charts.
However, record sales are just the tip of the iceberg. "The real money will be made through royalty fees, every penny of which should go to his estate," said Gennaro Castaldo of HMV, the music retailer.
"You could not walk along any street this weekend without hearing Michael Jackson's music coming out of almost every shop radio. If you replicate that across the world, you are looking at millions of pounds."
The renewed appetite for his music will be exploited by the release of "new" Jackson material, ensuring the sales boost is drawn out over weeks and months.
The star is understood to have collaborated with some of the biggest names in urban music, including Will. I. Am of the Black Eyed Peas, on an as-yet-unnamed album, and he reportedly left 200 unpublished songs to his children in his will to secure their future in the event of his bankruptcy.
Sony Music is also understood to be preparing a new compilation album.
The income will go some way to easing the precarious financial position in which Jackson left his estate. His executors may be forced to sell the singer's lucrative share in the Beatles back catalogue to help clear his estimated £200 million debt.
"Quite frankly, he may be worth more dead than alive," said Jerry Reisman of the Hit Factory recording studio, where Jackson produced his best-selling album Thriller.
Daily Telegraph
The Sad, Sad Story Of A National Lottery Winner
A GOOD job, close friends and loving wife . . . Keith Gough felt he was the richest man in the world - then he RUINED it all by winning £9 million on the Lottery.
The life-changing win four years ago became a recipe for disaster when baker Keith ended up blowing nearly ALL his dough.
Like most of us would, he thought scooping the incredible jackpot meant happiness for him and his family for the rest of their lives.
Instead Keith, 58, told last night how the fortune lost him his wife of 25 years and his friends - leaving him with only the comfort of the booze bottle to turn to.
Crying
In an exclusive interview, alcoholic Keith revealed that he now spends his time alone, and rues the day he ever bought the winning ticket.
He said: "My life WAS brilliant. But the Lottery has ruined everything. What's the point of having money when it sends you to bed crying?"
"Now when I see someone going in to a newsagent I advise them NOT to buy a lottery ticket."
Down-on-his-luck Keith also revealed how the windfall made him a TARGET for conmen, one of whom fleeced him out of £700,000.
On top of that, he splashed out on posh homes, flash motors, racehorses . . . and a CALL GIRL.
Unshaven Keith, who sleeps in the spare room of his nephew's small semi, now spends most of his time indoors, only venturing outside for long, lonely walks in the Shropshire countryside. He admits it's a far cry from the simple life he once shared with devoted wife Louise, also 58.
Remembering how the pair were looking forward to retirement, Keith sighed: "If I could crawl back on broken glass to where I was, I would. The Lottery has ruined our lives.
"My life was brilliant and I was very much in love with Louise."
Keith earned his living in a bakery and Louise worked in a solicitors' office. They enjoyed a comfortable existence in a £160,000 semi in Bridgnorth, Shropshire.
"And I had plenty of time for my passion, fly fishing," he added.
Then in June 2005 the couple got all six numbers on a National Lottery lucky dip ticket. It wasn't long before the pair, who have a 14-year-old son, started spending - and their first big buy was a £500,000 house down the road.
Keith tried to maintain a normal life by keeping his job at the bakery but jealousy among his colleagues forced him to quit.
He recalled: "Without routine in my life I started to spend, spend, spend . . . and because I had the spare cash in my pocket."
After shelling out hundreds of thousands of pounds on RACEHORSES, he bought a BMW for £60,000. He bought a sprawling £1MILLION HOUSE in Cheshire, hired a GARDENER (£15,000) and CHAUFFEUR (£25,000).
He also spent £35,000 on an EXECUTIVE BOX at his beloved footie team Aston Villa.
His flash behaviour lost him friends but worst of all he started drifting from his wife, mainly because he had sceretly begun drinking alone.
The boozing reached dangerous levels. He would spend £45 a day - £315 a week - on bottles of gin, whisky and brandy. He said: "I was drinking every day and it was taking its toll on me and my marriage."
Nearly two years after their win, the couple split. Keith's boozing and spending spiralled even more out of control and he reached his lowest ebb.
He says: "In the end I was just bored. Before the win all I would drink was some wine with a meal - but now I was making myself ill. I ended up in the Priory in Birmingham."
By the time his divorce from Louise was finalised, Keith had wasted a large chunk of his fortune but walked away with £1.5 million. Louise still had several millions.
Instead of turning his life around, he plunged deeper into the mire.
While in rehab, he was visited by trickster James Prince, a bankrupt who deliberately targeted him for his money.
Vulnerable Keith, who was by now gambling heavily as well, was first of all persuaded by Prince to check himself out of the clinic and then to write big cheques for business ventures.
Prince - who also introduced Keith to a call girl he squandered eben more of his winnings on - conned a total of £700,000 from Keith. The trickster was later caught and sentenced to three years in jail for fraud.
From spending thousands of pounds a day, Keith's biggest expense now is the weekly grocery shop. But he eats alone after losing all his friends.
Keith explains: "I used to be popular but I've driven away all my friends. I don't trust anyone anymore.
"Money doesn't matter to me. I thought the lotto win was going to be the answer to my dreams. Now those dreams have turned to dust."
Source: News Of The World
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
