Michael Jackson’s music breaks streaming records after biopic release

“Michael” is also the highest-earning music biopic ever, surpassing “Straight Outta Compton” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

The success of “Michael” is translating off-screen. Michael Jackson’s already record-breaking music has surpassed its own streaming numbers.

In the week of April 24-30, also the week of the film’s premiere, Jackson’s solo music discography registered a collective 137.5 million official on-demand streams, according to data from Luminate obtained by Billboard. This is an increase of 146% from the previous week’s high of 55.9 million song clicks.

The late artist’s music has also re-entered the Billboard charts in several different categories. He is currently third on the Billboard Artist 100 list, the highest ranking he’s received since debuting at number 32 in 2014. The hit music leading the King of Pop’s new run is the album “Thriller,” which has re-entered the Billboard 200 at number 27, and the song “Billie Jean,” which previously spent 25 weeks on the Hot 100 and now adds another week at number 38 on the chart.

According to Billboard, 10 of Jackson’s songs, including “Human Nature,” “Man in the Mirror,” “Beat It,” and “Rock With You,” have made their way back onto the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. “Human Nature” and “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” in particular exceeded their previous peak rankings on the list, going from numbers 27 and 46 to numbers 10 and 17.

The music of The Jackson 5 and The Jacksons is also seeing an increase in streams, per Billboard. The Jackson 5 had 4.3 million streams the week before “Michael” hit theaters, which increased to 10.1 million the week the film was released. The Jacksons’ music received over double the amount of clicks in that same timeframe, from 2.1 million to 4.9 million.

Despite mixed reviews, “Michael” had the biggest box office debut ever for a music biopic, bringing in $97 million domestically and $217 million globally. The film beat out the debut numbers for “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Straight Outta Compton.” The film reportedly had a $200 million budget, befitting of the larger-than-life entertainer.