 Oxygène initially proved difficult to sell. Jarre was turned down by several record companies, until another of Schaeffer's students, Hélène Dreyfus, persuaded her husband to publish the album on his label, Disques Motors. The first pressing of 50,000 copies was promoted through hi-fi shops, clubs and discos, and by April 1977 the album had sold 70,000 copies in France. When interviewed in Billboard magazine, Dreyfus's director Stanislas Witold said "In a sense we 're putting most of our bets on Jean Michel Jarre. He is quite exceptional and we're sure that by 1980 he will be recognised worldwide." Oxygène has since sold an estimated 12 million copies, the best-selling French record of all time. It reached number 2 in the UK, number 65 in Canada [1], and broke the top 100 in the US. It also contains his most recognisable single, "Oxygène IV", which reached number 4 in the UK single charts.
