KOCHI: There was a time when the world swore by his name. He was the ultimate pop icon who made millions groove to his tunes. Nearly two months after his departure the music scenario is buzzing with his music and the sales of Michael Jackson albums are skyrocketing like never before. In the city hordes of MJ fans are still stocking up the hits of the pop king. “MJ is simply a phenomenon, I used to collect his tracks earlier but now I see to it I have all his albums,” says Pradeep, a system analyst.
The city music shops believe that the round-the-clock coverage on the dead pop legend for days on local and national media had a crucial role in the massive boom in Michael Jackson’s sales. “After his death there has been a steady demand for MJ albums. Though the initial pull is not there the demand has not died down. We still have customers coming for them and the flow is still on,” says Joshy, store-in-charge of Music World, M G Road. Joshy says that most of the customers who come in search of MJ albums are families. “The number of teenagers coming for MJ is less than the families.
MJ has suddenly become a hit with families, especially with kids,” he adds.
But that doesn’t keep generation Y away from the smashing hits in the history of pop. “Though he belongs to another generation we all love his tracks, especially his Dangerous and History are all time hits. We were not familiar with many of his albums as they were out at a time when we were not even born. But after his death all the channels have been playing his albums nonstop, making them popular once again,” says Firoz, a plus two student.
P X George, the store-in-charge of Paico, says they have been storing more of MJ after his death. “It has been long since MJ albums enjoyed such a commercial buzz. We are selling more and more of him after his death,” he says.
Nisha Mary Koshy, an executive, feels that the lack of new material for many years was the reason for the dip in public demand in the previous years. “But his death has rekindled the Jacko fever that was more like a religion some 15 years back. The Thriller and Bad days are back with a bang,” she says.
“It’s quite normal that there is a massive sale of MJ tracks as fans want to give a tribute to the icon through buying the records. It happened with Elvis, Cash and Sinatra and MJ is no different,” says Aparna, a teacher. “It’s evident from the downloads and the discussions on social networking circuits.
It’s simply the way the world says ‘we love you Jacko’,” she adds.
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