Michael Jackson Projected To Sell 400,000 In First Week: Can He Help Turn The Industry Around?

Can Michael Jackson posthumously help continue to turn the music business around along with the promising success of female artists this quarter like Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Rhianna?

While the rest of the world debated the authenticity on whether Michael Jackson's voice is actually present on the posthumous single "Breaking News," most music merchants say the controversy should stoke awareness and sales for the new album "Michael," due Dec. 14 on Epic Records.

Indeed, the debate on song quality and authenticity will likely be a moot point by Nov. 15. On that day, the Jackson website is scheduled to debut the first commercially available single from "Michael," a duet with Akon for the song "Hold My Hand," which is noticeably stronger and is clearly identifiable as Jackson. That track will be available for sale the same day at digital stores like iTunes.

Merchants hope the lead commercially available single will provide a stronger introduction to "Michael," which will carry a $10.25 wholesale cost and a $13.98 list price.The initial U.S. shipment of "Michael" is 900,000, according to retail sources. Sony is projecting first-week CD sales of 340,000 and digital album sales of 60,000. That projection is similar to debut-week sales of Jackson's album "This Is It," which sold 373,000 units in its first week and has sold 1.6 million units since its release in October 2009, according to Nielsen SoundScan.