QUICK TAKES - July 23, 2009

It took an “Idol” to supplant an icon. Michael Jackson has posthumously had the top-selling album in the U.S. for the last three weeks, but the honor now belongs to Daughtry, led by former “American Idol” contestant Chris Daughtry. The act’s second effort, “Leave This Town,” sold 269,000 copies in the U.S. during the week ended July 19, according to Nielsen SoundScan, placing it at No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts.

Jackson’s hits collection “Number Ones” added an extra 192,000 to its sales total during the same period. But that’s down significantly from the 349,000 copies it moved the previous week, hinting that Jackson’s sales momentum may be slowing -- at least until concert promoter AEG releases a tribute film.

All told, 647,000 Jackson albums were sold last week, down from the 1.1 million the previous week.

-- Todd Martens