Spun: The Off-the-Wall Accounting of Record Sales.

The article presents an accounting of record sales of U.S. pop singer Michael Jackson and other pop superstars. The misrepresentation and misinterpretation of individual songs to reflect album sales is examined. A background of the modern era of music measurement which began in the U.S. in 1991 is presented. Information is also presented on other sources of record sales data, including SoundScan.