From left: Tony Sirico, Steven Van Zandt, James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli and Vicint Pastore, from the HBO drama series "The Sopranos."
In the days that followed the June 19 death of actor James Gandolfini, his fans have flooded the world with tributes and remembrances. And, as if so often the case, they’ve also sparked a new interest in his work. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the first season of The Sopranos, the show that catapulted Gandolfini to stardom, rose to No. 2 in iTunes sales( from No. 1,463); the complete DVD set for the series (which costs more than $100) has also jumped in Amazon sales to the top slot.
(MORE: James Gandolfini (1961–2013): As a Made Man, He Made TV Great)
It’s a phenomenon commonly seen with recently deceased stars, musicians in particular—the week after Michael Jackson‘s death in 2009, he took the top three spots on the list of best-selling albums, according to the New York Times. Since his death, sales of his recording have made $1 billion, Billboard reports.
But what may be a nice way to quantify love for one’s work can also be awkward for fans and businesspeople alike. Of course, sales figures are the last thing that matters when it comes to life and death, and many fans are quick to be suspicious of those who stand to make money in such situations.
people are high fiving each other at HBO headquarters right now while they watch DVD sales of the Sopranos skyrocket
— chris (@brostoevsky) June 20, 2013
News reports about surging sales figures have been called “tasteless” and “too soon” by commenters. (Interestingly, the comments in trade publications like Variety have not been as skeptical.)
It’s true that fans have past examples of celebrities being taken advantage of posthumously. After Michael Jackson’s death, for example, an executive from the company promoting his tour sent an e-mail that said the company would “make a fortune from merch sales, ticket retention, the touring exhibition, and the film/dvd” (also noting “I still wish he was here!”); the e-mail was later used in a lawsuit against the company. When Whitney Houston died in 2012, Sony Music UK raised the price they were charging for her albums; the company later apologized and said the price change had been a mistake.
And sometimes the guilt falls on fans themselves, even without wrongdoing on anyone’s part: as a PopMatters essay inspired by the death of Alex Chilton noted, singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt had tens of thousands of dollars of unpaid medical bills before his death, which means that being inspired to buy his work posthumously comes with “a pang of guilt” over how those sales could helped him in life.
But there’s been no indication of any attempt to manipulate Sopranos sales or of any glee over those rising figures—rather, HBO has been outspoken in sadness about the actor’s death.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjWEZ0LzPsI]
Like it or not, the numbers are what they are—and, as that PopMatters essay also noted, when it comes to checking out something worth listening to or seeing, better late than never.
What do you think: is it tasteless to report or discuss sales figures in the wake of a celebrity death?