It’s the same with any high-profile award ceremony; a spike in sales always welcomes the big-hitters. This year, Justin Timberlake’s reunification with the band that made him, Nsync, saw the band’s fortune rise just a little bit.

Justin Timberlake and NSYNCJustin Timberlake and NSYNC at the VMAs

 

By performing “Girlfriend” and “Bye Bye Bye” on MTV’s big show, the band managed to convince loads of people to think, ‘hang on, I might as well buy their greatest hits album, I haven’t heard that in years!’. Okay, it might not have gone down exactly like that, but the album shot into the top 30 on iTunes within hours.

Timberlake’s solo career enjoyed the benefits of the VMAs too, as the pre-orders for his upcoming album, The 20/20 Experience 2 rose following his performance with the legendary boy band. That, Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz and Katy Perry’s Prism make up the top 3 pre-ordered albums at the moment.

Elsewhere, Macklemore and Bruno Mars won’t have noticed their slight boost in sales, while Kanye West’s Yeezus popped back into the top 20. Timberlake’s latest high-profile outing since his extravagant comeback provided the biggest sales boost, though.

Miley CyrusCirus's performance at the VMAs was mighty cheeky

The biggest story from the VMAs wasn’t the percentile shifts in sales, though; it was Miley Cirus and her raunchy performance, something that Timberlake felt like defending. “It’s the VMAs, what did you guys expect? I like Miley, I like her a lot,’ he told Fresh 102.7 in a radio interview on Tuesday. “She’s young, she’s letting everyone know she’s grown up. It’s the VMAs. It’s not like she did it at the Grammys.”