A couple of weeks ago, I watched a customer grab a copy of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” off the Wax Trax best sellers wall. “The biggest selling album of all time…” she muttered to herself in astonishment. Until that moment, that hype sticker wasn’t something I ever really thought about– after all, his nickname is “The King of Pop.” But as she came up to the front desk to purchase a copy, it sparked a conversation between her and I that made me wonder: will we ever see an album outsell Michael Jackson’s “Thriller?”
There are many ways to measure album sales given the many ways people can listen to one, but at the time of writing, “Thriller” has sold over 70 million “pure sales” and over 120 million if you count “equivalent units” worldwide, and is 34 times platinum (which only includes RIAA certified sales of 34 million, which is actually second to The Eagles “Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975” which is now at 40 million – but that measure includes 1500 streaming listens as one sale). But Jackson’s music has seen a resurgence with the release of the biopic “Michael” from earlier this year, so his number continues to rapidly grow even 44 years after publication.
While the artist that takes the number two spot has changed over the years (from AC/DC’s “Back in Black” to Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of The Moon”) the current number two spot by equivalent units is The Eagles’ “Hotel California” at 74 million copies sold. When it comes to determining these numbers, some choose to strictly stick to “pure sales” instead of factoring in all units (i.e; digital singles, streams, etc.), but even if you were to only talk about pure sales, “Thriller” still firmly holds the number one spot by over 30 million sales.
In short, it’s safe to assume that Michael Jackson will hold the number one spot in most ways of measuring for the foreseeable future. The highest selling album from the 21st century on the best selling album list is Adele’s “21” at 57 million equivalent units sold, which came out in 2011. Not even half of Jackson’s achievement. But what exactly got him that number one spot? In theory, could an artist today replicate Jackson’s exact same marketing strategy for “Thriller” and see the same results?
Funny enough, Jackson’s rollout was fairly standard when it comes to a major artist’s record. He released singles and made TV appearances. But part of what makes “Thriller” so iconic today is the innovation in the album itself. One of the most famous stories in pop music history is when Walter Yetnikoff threatened to pull all Epic Records artists from MTV if the network continued to show racial bias against Michael Jackson’s singles, because they “didn’t fit their format” (this was later recreated for the Michael Jackson biopic from earlier this year). Almost immediately, MTV folded, airing Jackson’s “Billie Jean” music video, creating a second wave of popularity for “Thriller” around a year after its initial release.
This would inspire Jackson to go all in on the music video for the album’s title track—a thirteen-minute short film inspired by the 1981 film “An American Werewolf in London,” The video cost roughly $500,000 to make (or nearly $1 million when including the costs of the accompanying documentary).
Due to both the video’s length and its production costs, Jackson’s label was initially against making it, prompting Jackson to go directly to MTV, who agreed to fund the project in exchange for the rights to a documentary about its making.
When you combine all of this with a time period when monoculture was still thriving, it’s hard not to view “Thriller” as something born out of a perfect storm. MTV was born in 1981, just a year before Thriller’s release. Cable was still a new thing, just gaining traction in the US. The majority of people were still watching broadcast TV and relying on ABC, NBC, and CBS for their entertainment and their TV news. The final season of M.A.S.H. in 1983 drew 100 million viewers, almost half the country at the time!
Yetnikoff’s threat of pulling all of Epic Records’ artists from MTV also showcases the power one label had over pop culture hubs like MTV at the time. With artists like Michael Jackson and other major acts in its catalog, the label had enough leverage to put serious pressure on one of the most important music television networks in the country. Part of what makes the story so famous is because it showcases an era where big labels had a fairly firm control on what reached the masses.
In 2026, that kind of monoculture feels like a distant memory. The internet has created a space where virtually anyone can find a community built around the niche interests they have. Not only that, but the accessibility for making, distributing and promoting your own music is at an all time high with platforms like Distrokid and social media making record labels less of a necessity for young artists. This has made it increasingly difficult for any single piece of art to capture the attention of an entire generation at once, and increasingly easy for people to get their art out there–which diversifies the marketplace.
This contrast can especially be seen in formats that thrived during the height of monoculture, such as late-night talk shows and red-carpet events. Before the internet, these formats were often one of the few ways audiences could get a closer look at their favorite artists. Today, all it takes is a follow button to see what famous people are up to. The incentive or requirement to pay attention to celebrities you don’t know or care about is practically nonexistent. Look at the comment sections of late-night clips and red-carpet events and you’ll often find questions like, “who even is this?” or “I don’t recognize any of these names.” While comments aren’t hard evidence, it can occasionally be a good gauge for a baseline of people's opinions, and an indicator that they’re ready to jump ship to find people they do know and like elsewhere.
So, to circle all the way back: Will we ever see anybody outsell Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” even if they followed the same steps he did today? In terms of sales, probably not. The way an album is distributed and consumed is considerably different than it was 44 years ago, making “Thriller’s” level of commercial success incredibly difficult to replicate. Only a small handful of albums from this century are making it into the top 100 selling albums list, and Taylor Swift is not among them.
But in terms of relevance and cultural impact? I’ll take the optimistic route and say it’s definitely possible! Artists have continued pushing boundaries and finding new ways to fight for their art, the big corporations and sneaking their artist’s songs into blockbuster movies, radio playlists, and grocery store aisles, and there’s little reason to believe any of that will stop anytime soon. Every once in a while, we see a song become inescapable in the same way songs were before monoculture began to dissipate, like the Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” from 2020, but the question might be, will it last the test of time? I think it’s possible someone will get there, but without a narrower collection of news sources or mediums for hearing about new music, artists today will have to forge new paths to gaining the same kind of widespread popularity that the biggest labels and artists used to be able to generate.
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