Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' album will be absent from Billboard's Album Chart tomorrow because it is considered a "catalogue' album.
The 25th anniversary edition of 'Thriller' sold 166,000 units this week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, which would have placed it at number two behind Jack Johnson.However, 'Thriller' has been designated to the Top Pop Catalog chart instead of the Billboard 200 because it is not considered a new release.
Geoff Mayfield, Billboard's Sr. Director of Charts, says there was much debate between Sony-BMG and Billboard over the listing but in the end Billboard would not change its policy for 'Thriller'.
"Sony-BMG stated a strong case and we did consider it," Geoff tells Undercover News. "I took to heart their comments and then I took it to retail. The response I got overwhelmingly is that it is a catalogue album and belongs on the catalogue chart".
"It is being worked in Sony through Legacy which is their catalogue division', he said. "The core of the album is a 25 year old recording. The addition of new material doesn't make it different".
Over the years, hundreds, if not thousands of albums have been reissued with additional material just like 'Thriller'. "U2's recent 'The Joshua Tree' reissue and Beck's 'Odelay' fall into the same category," he states. "In fact, Beck's album has new tracks just like 'Thriller' and it did not qualify."
Other albums such as The Who's 'Live At Leeds' and Wings 'Band On The Run' were reissued like 'Thriller' with extra tracks.
"I wasn't interested in what Sony-BMG thought," Geoff said. "We always rethink our rules. We did so in November. Sometimes there is a change, sometimes there is not. To change the rules for 'Thriller' would have signalled a change for all other albums moving forward."
So why is the reissue of 'Thriller' different to the reissue of 'Traveling Wilburys' which did qualify for the chart? "Wilburys was the entire Wilburys output in one package," he says. It was never done before. If 'Thriller' and 'Off The Wall' were combined into one package then that would qualify and would have been charted".
'Thriller' is the second biggest album of all-time in the United States. Jackson needs to sell another 3 million copies to beat the current title holder Eagles 'Their Greatest Hits'.
