Jackson music, videos quickly sell out after death
NEW YORK — Michael Jackson's death has led to skyrocketing sales of his music and videos, with major retailers selling out of products that have regained immense popularity overnight.
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Bill Carr, Amazon.com Inc.'s vice president for music and video, said Friday that once the world learned that the pop icon had died Thursday, the Web site sold out within minutes all CDs by Michael Jackson and by the Jackson 5 — the group Jackson and his four older brothers formed out of Gary, Ind., in the late '60s.
Jackson's albums accounted for all 10 of Amazon's "Bestsellers in Music" list Friday, with the 25th anniversary edition of the celebrated "Thriller" album taking the top spot.
Barnes and Noble Inc.'s Web site and retail stores also sold out most Jackson CDs, DVDs and books, and its 10 bestselling CDs were Jackson titles as well. Borders Group Inc.'s Web site sold out almost everything related to the star; albums also sold out at some of the book seller's retail locations, including its New York stores.
"We saw something similar when (Luciano) Pavarotti and (Frank) Sinatra passed, but from the initial read on this it seems to be a faster rush," Borders spokeswoman Mary Davis said. "People seem to be shocked by the news and want to go out and rediscover his music."
At a Borders in midtown Manhattan, Chris Barnes, 37, came in during his lunch break Friday and was disappointed he couldn't get a compilation of the star's number-one videos — something he had seen on the shelf just a few days earlier.
"He was an icon. I grew up on 'Off The Wall' and all that," Barnes said, listening to Jackson's "Rock With You" on his iPod as he spoke.
Apple Inc. would not describe the level of demand for Jackson's music at its online iTunes Store, but his dominance of iTunes' top-seller lists Friday speaks for itself.
Before word of Jackson's hospitalization, none of his albums were in iTunes' list
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