'Captain Marvel' Songs by Hole, Nirvana, No Doubt & More Post 464% Sales Gain

The blockbuster movie Captain Marvel spurred big gains for the classic hit songs that are featured the film, according to initial reports to Nielsen Music.   

Combined, the 13 pop, rock and rap tunes featured in the movie collected a 464 percent gain in sales in the U.S. in the four days ending March 10 (the movie, starring Brie Larson in the title role, began preview screenings on the evening of March 7).

The songs – which include Hole’s “Celebrity Skin” and Elastica’s “Connection” – sold 9,000 downloads combined (compared to 2,000 sold in the four days ending March 6). Also in our totals: The Marvelettes’ “Please Mr. Postman,” as Samuel L. Jackson’s character Nick Fury sings a bit of the track in the movie.

Some of the biggest gainers include “Celebrity Skin,” which was the largest-selling tune from the movie in the tracking span, and it jumped 2,222% in sales to nearly 2,000 downloads sold (up from a negligible sales sum in the four days ending March 6). Three other songs featured in the movie also sold a little more than 1,000 downloads in the four days ending March 10: Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” (up 371 percent), No Doubt’s “Just a Girl” (up 720 percent) and Garbage’s “Only Happy When It Rains” (up 1,351 percent).

In terms of on-demand streams (audio and video combined), the 13 tunes also had a notable jump. Collectively, they tallied a 43 percent gain – rising to 4.09 million streams on March 7-10 as compared to 2.85 million on March 3-6.