Michael Jackson vs. Taylor Swift For Best Selling Album of the Year

In the wake of Michael Jackson's death, millions of Americans who have grown accustomed to obtaining their music illegally have gone out and gotten it the "old fashioned" way; they've paid for it. The disc that has benefited the most is his 2003 compilation Number Ones which spent over a month outselling the Black Eyed Peas.

Billboard has released sales figures and in 2009, Number Ones has shifted an incredible 1,619,000 copies. That puts the album right ahead of what seemed to be 2009's inevitable top seller, Taylor Swift's Fearless. Swift's sophomore effort is right behind at 1,608,000 copies sold. Imagine that, a year where the No. 1 and No. 2 best selling albums sold over 1.5 million copies. It feels like 2005 or something.

2009 still has four months left filled with Jackson's 51st birthday and his concert film set to hit theaters and Swift still flexing her muscles dominating both pop and country radio (and over half the songs on her album have charted on the Hot 100 at some point in the past year), these last few months are going to be like the final stretch of the most exciting 400 meter race music has seen all decade.