'Young fans aren't excluded from catalog sales - especially the ones who really get interested in music, there's always that sense of discovery,' says Geoff Mayfield, the director of charts at Billboard Magazine.Įvents can boost sales of old albumsCurrent events can alter the charts. His best-selling 'Thriller' moves more than 60,000 copies a year and his 'Number Ones' collection yielded 162,000 sales last year.Īvid fans may be buying everything their favorite artist puts out, but there's more than nostalgia fueling vintage sales. Michael Jackson, of course, still has one of the most desirable back catalogs. U2, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Celine Dion, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Dave Matthews Band and the ever-touring Jimmy Buffett also all continue to sell large amounts of old records. Artists that commercially peaked in the ’80s or ’90s that have had lucrative best-of collections include Garth Brooks, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tim McGraw, Creed, Queen, Tom Petty, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Def Leppard, Aerosmith and Lionel Richie. Greatest hits compilations are counted as catalog releases, and account for the majority of vintage best-sellers.
The Trans-Siberian Orchestra's 'Christmas Eve and Other Stories' (1996) continues to be a holiday favorite it was bought 289,000 times last year. Bon Jovi's 1994 'Cross Road' last year sold 324,000 copies, while Guns 'N Roses 'Appetite for Destruction' (1990) sold 113,000.
