On Wednesday, Forbes Magazine released its annual list of Top-Earning Dead Celebrities, and for the second consecutive year, reggae legend, Bob Marley, was absent.

Is Marley magic fading?

French fashion designer Yves St Laurent topped the 13-member list with earnings of US$350 million, followed by songwriters Rodgers and Hammerstein with US$235 million. The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, was third with US$90 million.

Marley, who died from cancer in 1981, was a fixture on the list from 2001 to 2008. He reached as high as sixth in 2001 with earnings of US$10 million.

Marley archivist Roger Steffens believes several factors have contributed to his decline as a major seller. One is the worldwide plunge in record sales, another is the absence of a high-profile project to revive interest in his legend.

"Longtime observers will remember that in the spring of 1984, an American motion picture producer announced that principal photography would have began in April of that year on the Bob Marley story," Steffens said, in an interview with The Gleaner.

"A quarter century later, we're still waiting. A major Hollywood epic on his momentous life would be an inspiring international smash hit in the right hands, and add a major attractant for the continuing sales of his catalogue," Steffens added.

Brand resuscitation

Biopics have done wonders for pop icons like The Doors and Ray Charles.

Ray, the 2004 Academy Award-winning movie, starring Jamie Foxx, sparked a revival for Charles who died four months before the movie's release.

A Marley documentary, which at different stages involved big-name directors Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme, is scheduled for release in 2010.

This year, the Marley family made a big effort to resuscitate their brand by enlisting Canadian company Hilco to promote a new line of products bearing their patriarch's likeness. These products would include a Marley beer.

Marley's music continues to sell, though not in mega numbers.

Legend, the posthumous compilation released in 1984, has sold over 12 million units worldwide. This year alone, sales tracker SoundScan says it sold over 200,000 units.

Biggest hits

Steffens believes the release of alternate tracks of some of his biggest hits would result in a spike in sales.

"The Beatles have sold more than 10 million copies of their multi-album sets, The Beatles Anthology, made up of alternate out-takes from all their recordings," he said. "There are more than 1,000 a tracks in the Island vaults, many radically different early versions of his standards - gospel, disco, even bossa nova - that Marley fans would race to buy."

Island Records, then owned by Chris Blackwell, signed Marley and his band The Wailers in 1972. They recorded eight studio albums for the label.

Forbes Top-Earning Dead Celebrities is one of the magazine's most popular annual lists. Other musicians on this year's table are Elvis Presley (US$55 million), John Lennon (US$15 million) and Jimi Hendrix (US$8 million).

Estates of dead celebrities have to make a minimum US$6 million to qualify for the list.