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Feedback Requested: Bad25 Sales. Why low sales?

Bad 25 is brilliant. Simple as. However sales were low as the one thing everybody was excited about was the live DVD & if it wasn't for this forum I don't think I'd have known about it.

It took me ages to find it in any shops and when I did the packaging was small & awful.

Nobody except hardcore MJ fans are bothered about a few unreleased tracks and demos, but the Live At Wembley CD & DVD combo marketed would have been a huge seller. Adverts with a few 5 second clips of Smooth Criminal, Billie Jean, Dirty Diana, MITM would have generated huge interest.

Think about artists you kinda like but not huge on, you wouldn't buy a re-released album you probably already had with a few bonus tracks but you may well buy a live concert of them in the their prime, especially if it had an audio CD with it.

The quality of the concert probably only put a few people off, and those people don't understand the true essence of live music. It's not about HD quality, it's about passion - and the Live at Wembley concert has it it in bucketloads.

Simply put, Bad25 is the best MJ release since HIStory came out 17 years ago (wow, that's scary). The fault this time (unlike with Michael) is in the promotion, not the product.
 
I'll add my two cents here as well

I'm personally kind of confused about who the target market is for this product. Is it fans or general public?

If it's fans a "collectors label" with a different promotional approach (not to much reliance on mass media) might give a better outcome. If it's general public I'll agree with the rest of the members here and say that the promotion was quite disjointed - pepsi campaign started months ago, documentary coming months later and none of which are clearly tied to the Bad25.

Although I'm a fan and tend to buy everything we are getting too many releases. TII movie, TII album, Michael album, Immortal album, Vision, Bad 25 package, Wembley DVD and now Spike Lee documentary. It's too much and therefore nothing feels special enough. I understand the posthumous releases, the deal with Sony and trying to get stuff out there quickly but I think there could be a little more time between them so they would seem special and not like we get something every 3-6 months. Even though I get interested in stuff my interest is generally short-lived.

Similarly for the general public I would think that they have the same songs in multiple different formats and these aren't that special to them either. For example Bad (2001) release, TII release and/or any Greatest Hits / Number Ones releases have majority of these songs. If I was a non-fan and had "number ones" for example I wouldn't be paying attention to these releases that includes mainly the old songs.

So If it was me
- I would have released only Live CD and Bad concert DVD (which would require better quality to be a standalone release). First ever release of Bad Tour is an attractive product.

- I would release demos / new songs on their own in the form of posthumous albums. 2 CD packages that only have 5 new songs but a lot of old songs and remixes aren't that attractive to the fans. We already have the old songs and not many care for the remix songs. So Sony / Estate is hoping that people would pay $12.99 for only 5 songs. Not a value offer from fans perspective.

Also it doesn't make sense to release new songs / demos and do not use them. Why not release one of them - such as Price of Fame- as a new MJ song with all the fanfare and a video etc?

I bought Bad25 but I'll easily think that Michael album / Cascio songs as well as Wembley DVD issue being reason for some to not buy anything. There's also the fans with issues with Estate and/or Sony.

I'll also have to add that Estate has a quite ineffective communication with fans and fails to be proactive. (Yeah I tried to send this feedback to them multiple times in private but couldn't succeed).

For example the Bad 25 press release with Wembley DVD from VHS information is sent out. This creates immediate negative discussion among fans. It requires us to contact MJ Estate Online Team and wait them to feel this is important enough to be conveyed to Estate. Then wait for Estate to consider this important enough to address and send out a statement. By this time several days - up to a week has passed and negativity and unhappiness has already been established. So Estate statements is fighting against these established negative opinions and not always being successful and sometimes creating more questions then answers. I can't understand why the Estate can't be proactive - meaning that foresee that "From VHS" could be an issue, prepare a statement / explanation and send it out to fan clubs simultaneously with the regular press release. This way they can get ahead of any negative feelings before they even started.

I could also write a lot about inability to have interactivity and actually maintain a two way communication with fans but I guess it's only semi -related to the Bad 25 issue but a general shortcoming.
 
watched X Factor UK on Saturday and Sunday before the release, as well as tv all day Sunday! didn't see one adverisement promoting anything Bad 25, the Tuesday after I received my deluxe package I headed to HMV and saw none advertisal aspects, no posters, the show wasn't even on the TV! and the only edition I saw there was the regular 2 CD edition, been back many times since and haven't seen the deluxe edition there once. I find that to be the reason why the sales were So low.
 
So we are asking you to provide feedback to the interested parties. Please explain
- your reasons to not buy / buy Bad 25
- any criticism
- any improvements
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Did I buy it?

I bought BAD25 with a lot of joy and excitement...
You don't wanna know how many times I went nagging to the record store when it would be out :tease:I ordered the BAD25 Deluxe Edition and the 'usual' 2 CD version of BAD25 :wub:

For me, it brought back the Magic of Michael... The fire I needed to LIVE again as the Demo's of BAD25 are still my 'wake up' songs... My day is made when I listened to them including the Nero mix of Speed Demon :punk:

It FELT like a 'genuine' NEW release to me... and I'm looking forward to another Project of MORE Demo's released in it's 'orginal' form like BAD25...

So WHY the LOW sales?

For me, it was the lack of PROMOTION and lousy ATTITUDE of the Record store...

I was stunned that the 'idiots' working there didn't even knew about BAD25 :blink:
I know, NOT everyone in this world :heart: Michael Jackson but hey... I've worked in Sales now too and YOU got to know what you sell and what ALL the NEW products and releases are... No matter if you like that person or not...

Then, I had to literally NAG their heads off so I could even ORDER the BAD25 Deluxe Edition :doh:

The Record store, I usually go to... had NO PROMO out... NO stand up, NO posters, NOT even the CD's on Display... You had to DEMAND that they would order it...
It took about a month before I got the 'ordered' BAD25 and yet once again I had to RANT cause something was wrong with the order... :mat:

I don't know if it's the Bleeping country that lack in Promotion or whatever... But ordering a simple CD with the threat I was gonna write to the MJ Estate if I didn't get my ordered CD soon, is NOT my way of fun :blink:

I know Michael Jackson :wub: is NOT hip anymore but RESPECT is still in order and it's NOT cause we LOST him, that we lost our POWER to defend and honour him :beee:

Any improvements?

NOPE, ONLY the PROMOTION in the Record store was :puke:
You had to be a HARDCORE fan to know about BAD25 :smilerolleyes:

Overall impression?

The 'release' was like I mentioned a 'genuine' MJ worthy release...
You left the demo's in it's 'original' form, thank you...
You gave us a gorgeous booklets with awesome piccies...
You thanked us for our loyalty and support :angel:

The Deluxe box was a real 'exciting' adventure to discover what it brought and for a 'reasonable' price... :yes:

I :heart: the Wembley DVD too... It made me FEEL like I was 16 again :blush: The 'quality' is for me 'superb' :clap:

I really TREASURE BAD25 :bow:

THANK YOU, MJ Estate for Honouring our Michael in such a RESPECTFUL way :angel:
 
There was absolutely no marketing campaign in Britain. Nobody knew it was out. That's why there was low sales.

Getting Bad 25 into cinemas would've helped. Possibly creating some kind of event video for one of the tracks that would really drum up some interest would've helped. Basically really planning out when the album drops instead of just doing press releases, website updates and then releasing it quietly when no one is looking. For the Bad 25 documentary to be shown on UK TV over 2 months after the album was released is just no good. And that wasn't promoted either.

People won't buy a product if they don't know about it.
 
I hate the Cascios songs and hope that they are no longer officially launched as a product of Michael Jackson, but despite that I did not join it with BAD25 and basically my opinion is the same as this post:

http://www.mjjcommunity.com/forum/t...hy-low-sales?p=3751414&viewfull=1#post3751414

Personally I have not bought yet because I can't find it in my city and from what I saw is not being sold the deluxe version in my country (why Sony Brazil? :mello:), the version that is sold is very expensive for reasons of economy of my country is cheaper to I import it, then my issue here is financial,
but if I'm going to cite a reason for low sales in my country I would say lack of promotion.
I know the release, but not every brazilian fan knows it
 
Galactus123 said:
Man in the Mirror performance in Moonwalker was also filmed in 1988 so the year when it was recorded is not the reason for the bad quality. :)
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Right. However, the explanation for the choice of that particular concert date was very clear...remember...VHS was only source...Michael's personal copy in exchange for great sound. And, like I said, I think it's great and am quite happy with that selection.
 
When you release an album, they should release a song too. I think they should have released either a demo or tried to make Smooth Criminal number #1. I bought it for the demos and Wembley.
 
And how low are those sales?

What sales did they expect?

How much did the individual releases sell?

How did it sell in the different countries or at least US, Europe and Asia?
So we can make out how "low" were the sales.

I see this as a release for the fans mainly. Seems the estate was thinking otherwise.
the contend was something mostly fans are intersted in. as many noted the general public already has this album and the songs from it in many variations and purchased shortly. So releasing the dvd separately was good choice.

Some of the reasons mentioned i don't comprehend. Many say, it was not avaible in local stores. we live in times where everything can be purchased online. so if you can't find the product in the shelves, you don't argue with the seller and lose your time, but go home and order it online. I don't understand why this is seen as problem or reason for lower salles.
Ok, some are old fashioned, but still. who buys cd's in stores anyway?

If you live in a coutry where either just the 2cd was released or nothing at all and you had to import, well yeah you're screwed and i'm sorry for you.

the promotion! hmmm, thats not easy to summarise. As a product that for me is mainly for fans it was enough.
Ok, if you don't visit fan boards and don't spend more then 5 min in internet or live a the forest, you won't know about it.
And fan isn't equal fan. Or better say someone who likes MJ music isn't necessary fan. So such things like "my friend is a fan, but don't spend time on fanboards and didn't know about it......" are vague explanation of why the product didn't succeed or why someone didn't buy it, if you know what i mean.

I think the promotion was discussed already, so ... the days of spending big promotions are gone and for such re-release as a whole it was planed ok, but not executed right.

Overall, it seams to me that the estate was expecting too much from something, that they didn't invest that much, i think.
I must say i also expected to do well, maybe just as t25 did, cosidering the contend. for me its the best package put together since TUC.

But seems many fans are biased and don't accept anything, if it isn't 150% of their expectations.

they got plenty of feedback as the product came out.
the contend of the cds and especialy the dvd, the promotion, was discussed for weeks and to extend.
Ok, they are disappointed and searching for reasons.
Yes i know the estate is just handful people, but if this "MJ Estate Online Team" did spend hour or two once a week, monitoring the fan-boards when a release is in-coming and released afterwards, they would know. and once in a month they should have a meeting that the feedback is reported, before and after the release. they problably do have such meetings.
so don't understand what's this request for.

I still would like to have answers to my questions above.
 
AlwaysThere said:
I agree; there was quite a long time (about two months) in between the release of the documentary and the release of the set itself. But I don't think the inclusion of remixes really affected anything. Two remixes really doesn't take away from the six new songs. (I consider both Afrojack remixes as the same song, regardless of the editing.)
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I know, but I feel the remixes had no place on the set. It would've been cool to release them as a standalone EP. Include the 3 remixes along with remixes of Liberian Girl and Smooth Criminal and put it on iTunes to help promote Bad25 and have shows like Dancing With The Stars and America's Best Dance Crew (if it's not cancelled) use them in episodes. But including them in the boxset? not a good idea. Every review I read agreed they were pointless lol
 
I remember hoping to see a pepsi commercial on tv like we used to see but nothing. If they neep help in marketing and promotion then they need to do that. I find the executors are great dealing with the finances and such. The only thing I thought that was promoted well was This is It and the wii dance experience thing.

Even on Itunes I see nothing promoted. I see the beatles and so on get promoted. I hope when Spike's dvd comes out in February that it gets promoted. Let the general public see the product. Sometimes I wish they would use one of Michael's songs in a movie or show or something like that.
 
Another thing is that reissues like Bad25 are more for the fanbase and collectors than the general public. Paul Simon's 25th anniversary reissue of "Graceland" is also a WONDERFUL release and from the chart stats, the reissue was #51 on the Billboard 200 and #3 on the Pop Catalog chart and #4 in the UK

Bad 25? 2 peak positions on the Billboard 200 (#23 and #46) #1 on the Pop Catalog and #6 in the UK. For a reissue, it did quite well sales wise BUT it could've done better the right promotion
 
Well, I think it was a great release. The concert was very good, although the quality not so much. Even though we understand the reasons, I think that next time they should go for a concert in a great quality(Blu-ray).

I have one complain though, but it's not about the BAD 25 release, it's about the BAD 25 distribution here in Brazil.
It was such a poor release, no advertisings, and it took more then a month after the world release to be in our stores. And to complete this awful treatment, the Deluxe package(3CD+1DVD) was not released, only the 2CD and the DVD alone.

Aaaaaand, the price of the 2CD was a complete joke! Extremely expensive... I bought the Deluxe from the US and it was cheaper then if I had went with the 2CD national edition. That's a shame, because Brazil is a huge country and has a huge MJ fan base, if treated well, this could had been a real success here.

I'm sorry, I don't know if the Estate or the US Sony can do something about the release treatment in other countries, but what happened here was a complete disaster. MJ should be treated in a more respecting way. I hope they can do something about it...
 
Well, i really hoped for the Bluray experience... DVD would have been really satisfactory if it were taken from a good source. The Wembley concerts could have been used for live cd/ maybe CD/DVD hybrid, while the true bluray/dvd experience offered Moonwalker/The One dvd video quality.

Also, there have been made several alterations to the audio; multitracks could have given a much better representation, just look at the discussion board. I ove the current release...but still. Representaing Michael means giving your best.. there ISN`T any greater artist...why half *ss a product?

There was NO promotion in The Netherlands... i haven`t seen any. I Bought the deluxe set the evening before the official release at our countries biggest dvd/cd reseller... there was no promotion...not even a card board / poster... c `mon..

I showed my family the dvd and dicussed what all the fuzz was about. Everyone said 'that dvd is acceptable'... it`s old.. it`s 1988 vhs footage. Then i showed the Moonwalker concert footage.. "I see what you mean".. i was told.

I don`t think the Dangerous Tour was filmed on real film, so they (Estate) could put faith back by creating a beautiful Victory Era box...there are many film reels from that era: Bluray release! That should regain confidence through fanbase, while everyone patiently awaits the Dangerous25 box.

The BAD25 doc was amazing, but should have been released simultaneously with the boxset... or the boxset should have been postpned to coincide with the doc. Again... no BAD25 promotion in the Netherlands.

The Estate should get in touch more with true fanbase community and connect to the people who were around Mike in the era. Get Patrick Kelly to supervise editing/screening/selecting film. Use Go Flying for a true audio mix using master recordings. Get IM_WHizzle from teh fan board to touch up here and there... That`s what created true (fan) magic. Michael would have loved it... get the best from everyone.
 
marebear said:
I found it confusing the 2 positions on billboard 200.
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Well, it's a little confusing, but this is how it's broken down (I think, at least):

* The 2-disc version is counted as part of the original Bad album sales.
* The deluxe version is counted as a brand-new release.
 
Maybe they should have done 1 cd all unreleased songs and the 2nd cd live album and counted as something new. Not do the original bad that a lot of people already have.
 
I'm entering some thoughts here from a person connected to the production and release of BAD25 FYI.

The idea of BAD 25 was never to break sales records from every demographic. Michael did that himself. It was historic, and can't be replicated. Neither is it simply to make Sony wealthier. The underlying purpose is to celebrate the BAD album and give it the respect it deserves. A corollary goal is to evaluate what fans want.

I'd like to know what is behind the poor sales. Whether it was buffering up old demos with new producers and new sounds for the Michael album, or leaving them alone for "BAD 25," there appears to be no shortage of controversy from unhappy MJ fans. Even so, this reissue--with demos, bonus tracks and remixes--received almost universal critical acclaim and has just been nominated NAACP album of the year.

It is not easy to please everyone. There was a fantastic LA Reid-produced track from the "Dangerous" sessions that we decided was best saved for an anniversary edition for "Dangerous," no matter how good it was. Reid thought it could be a hit on the radio RIGHT NOW and lobbied for it to be on BAD 25, but we wanted everything to be accurate. A radio hit wasn't the goal. A true historical accounting of the BAD sessions was.

Keep in mind that in later years, MJ's archives fell into disarray. There are those who assume that MJ maintained everything in the proper storage spaces with a staff to take care of it all. But as his world became financially complicated with multiple distractions towards the end, archiving his older unreleased material was understandably not the priority. The Wembley concert footage was a lucky find, but in extremely poor condition. No effort is spared to find and preserve priceless items like this-so that it can be made available to eager fans.

On another note, some folks oppose the release of his demos as it has been said that MJ was a perfectionist. Perhaps he wouldn't want every last demo out. However, he certainly wasn't opposed to releasing demos. He played a key role in selecting every track for his 2005 Ultimate Box Set, with many well-received demos among them.

Perhaps the MJ community can get the word out about BAD 25 via email, FB and Twitter in the next couple of weeks. For the holiday season, I hope fans consider picking up a copy for themselves, family, or friends.It is a positive thing for fans to focus on--not only because of the quality of its content, but because it ensures that the mining of MJ's catalog for more unreleased tracks, video, and so on will continue.
 
lom kit said:
so don't understand what's this request for.
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this is not an "official" request and not coming from MJ Estate.

During a discussion a Sony employee mentioned low sales and his desire to get feedback for understanding the reasons. I volunteered to open a thread. It was a win-win for everyone. We all could provide feedback to the parties involved and get our voice heard and hopefully improve the future releases.

My understanding the sales numbers was about US sales. The US sales was just under 100,000 but (again according to my understanding) they expected 200,000. (I might be wrong but that's what I gathered)

Given the fact that Michael album sold 600,000 copies in USA, 1/3 of that number 200,000 seems to be a realistic expectation for a re-release and under 100,000 seems to be disappointingly low.

Obviously poor sales is a threat for future releases
 
I don't know what the reason is for the low sales. I can say however that one reason is that there are just to many ill informed fans that refuse to buy from Sony or anything that is endorsed by the Estate. I wish everyone were more well informed about the back story behind what happened. I think it is time that fans realize that they are only short changing themselves and denying other fans the opportunity to enjoy future releases if it comes to that. I think it is time to forget all that and remember who it is that is singing on the album and who it is that is dancing on that stage and just sit back and enjoy the fact that you can see him once again.
 
ivy said:
I could also write a lot about inability to have interactivity and actually maintain a two way communication with fans but I guess it's only semi -related to the Bad 25 issue but a general shortcoming.
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This is a side topic, but I have to agree. I also think their usage of Twitter and facebook is very ineffective. They have millions of followers there and yet all they post is dull trivia and a link to amazon.com every now and then. They could do fan contests to win an album, they could post rare photos and tidbits from engineers and producers who worked with Michael. They could initiate discussions about which of the new songs fans like the most etc. Something to get the followers more involved and curious about Michael. I tried to email MJOnlineTeam about this once, but I guess they weren't interested.


If the question is from Sony about what fans specifically expect, my answer as a fan would be:
YES to unreleased (and untouched!) demos, live albums and video footage. Songs can be finished by someone else only if the original demo is included along with it.
NO to remixes.
I don't care for re-release of already released material - I just skip it unless it's a different mix.
 
Renan_Antonio said:
I have one complain though, but it's not about the BAD 25 release, it's about the BAD 25 distribution here in Brazil.
It was such a poor release, no advertising, and it took more then a month after the world release to be in our stores. And to complete this awful treatment, the Deluxe package(3CD+1DVD) was not released, only the 2CD and the DVD alone.

Aaaaaand, the price of the 2CD was a complete joke! Extremely expensive... I bought the Deluxe from the US and it was cheaper then if I had went with the 2CD national edition. That's a shame, because Brazil is a huge country and has a huge MJ fan base, if treated well, this could had been a real success here.

I'm sorry, I don't know if the Estate or the US Sony can do something about the release treatment in other countries, but what happened here was a complete disaster. MJ should be treated in a more respecting way. I hope they can do something about it...
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Mexico didn't get much attention either..it's the usual and Michael has a huge fan base here too, especially younger people who'd love to get more official releases.. Luckily I get the chance to visit US stores and that's where I usually get all my MJ related stuff..otherwise I'd be left with no other choice but online orders and that's not quite safe often times, since expensive items are known to be lost in the mail.
 
I agree with many points already made.
Where were the Pepsi cans with Michael on them? I never saw any.
I went to Wal-Mart to buy the CD double-set, and it was there but not well displayed and few copies, and they did not have the Wembley DVD. Then I went to Sam's Club to get the DVD and they didn't have it either, so I had to order it online. So having more copies in the stores and having the stores do better displays would help.
As far as Spike Lee's film, I went to see it in NYC--it took me all day to do that and it was expensive. The theater was almost empty. That was sad. Just maybe 4 or 5 people. I saw it in an early matinee.

Personal reactions: I love the unreleased demos and the DVD. I listen to the demos all the time in the car. I love the remixes. I love Spike Lee's film.

I am wondering if the earlier in the summer release of 'Don't Be Messin'" and "I Can't Stop Loving You" as a single affected the sales of Bad25 b/c Don't Be Messin was on the double-set CD, along with 2 versions of "I Can't Stop Lovin You." (redundancy?)

As far as the fan base being fractured--OMG--'fractured' doesn't begin to describe the situation. People get deeply involved in ideological warfare/entrenched positions on so many issues, and the level of respect for differing/opposing opinions is often too low or just nonexistent. So I don't see how the Estate could ever please everyone and to ask them to try and talk to the fans more about these issues and thus get themselves stuck in the interminable debates is in my view asking too much. I would not want to do it myself and I think it would challenge the best negotiator to do so.

It would be nice if the fans could try and communicate with each other with more respect and debate issues without attacking the holder of an opposing position personally. The other thing that would be nice is to consider how all this infighting hurts Michael's Estate and his legacy.

Lastly, I wonder if Randall Sullivan's book has been hurting Michael's image and legacy and thus his sales. This guy was all over the media with his 'no-nose' 'pre-sexual virgin' BS and the 'shadow of doubt' innuendos.
 
I purchased the deluxe BAD 25 and i was very happy with it. I love the demos and the remixes. I noticed the younger crowd really dug the remixes and would ask me about them. I think that is a good way to introduce MJ to a whole new generation.
I don't understand folks complaining about the Wembley dvd. It was just amazing to see Michael just bring it and pour his heart and soul out on that stage. It was magical. I didnt even notice the quality cause i was so mesmerized by his performance.
I do think the Pepsi campaign was not organized well. I could not find a can near me and nobody could tell me anything when i called Pepsi to complain.
 
I just don't think the general public has any interest in a 25 year-old album like Bad, even with unreleased demos on it. Despite most fans agreeing that Bad is a better album than Thriller, the general public is all about Thriller when it comes to MJ's catalog. I'm sure Thriller 25 sold more than Bad 25, just for the simple fact that it's Thriller and it has better recognition with the general public.

If it's true that some people are not buying Bad 25 because of the Eddie Cascio songs, I must say that's a sad thing to do. Regardless if you believe those songs are MJ singing or not, they don't have anything to do with Bad 25.
 
I think the reason behind "low" sales is only hardcore fans are interested in anniversary editions/demos. The "normal" fan or general public will think: "Why should I buy demos. I probably still have the orignal album somewhere"
Many "casual" fans will consider to pick it up later when it's cheaper. And there are many not-so-informed people who see everything that is released after an artists death as a "milking project" which they will not support.

Personally I couldn't be happier with Bad25. I enjoyed the deluxe edition very much! I even orderd the way too expensive buckle case. But after several months of them not delivering it I had to ask for a refund which I received. I guess they didn't want my money after all.

Personally for me the next release should be a full album of completed songs of his last years. If they were not finished by Michael, include the original demo.
Like we know, they really missed THE opportunity with the Michael Album (crappy title and not-modern-cover and by including at least half the songs which were not intended by MJ for his next (last) album). Maybe they can make up for that with a real "last album" and multiple single releases.

After that, I'm very happy with more anniversary editons like bad 25. On top of that, I propably would buy everything released on a collector's label in which the general public is not interested in.
 
LMAT said:
I'm entering some thoughts here from a person connected to the production and release of BAD25 FYI.

The idea of BAD 25 was never to break sales records from every demographic. Michael did that himself. It was historic, and can't be replicated. Neither is it simply to make Sony wealthier. The underlying purpose is to celebrate the BAD album and give it the respect it deserves. A corollary goal is to evaluate what fans want.

I'd like to know what is behind the poor sales. Whether it was buffering up old demos with new producers and new sounds for the Michael album, or leaving them alone for "BAD 25," there appears to be no shortage of controversy from unhappy MJ fans. Even so, this reissue--with demos, bonus tracks and remixes--received almost universal critical acclaim and has just been nominated NAACP album of the year.

It is not easy to please everyone. There was a fantastic LA Reid-produced track from the "Dangerous" sessions that we decided was best saved for an anniversary edition for "Dangerous," no matter how good it was. Reid thought it could be a hit on the radio RIGHT NOW and lobbied for it to be on BAD 25, but we wanted everything to be accurate. A radio hit wasn't the goal. A true historical accounting of the BAD sessions was.

Keep in mind that in later years, MJ's archives fell into disarray. There are those who assume that MJ maintained everything in the proper storage spaces with a staff to take care of it all. But as his world became financially complicated with multiple distractions towards the end, archiving his older unreleased material was understandably not the priority. The Wembley concert footage was a lucky find, but in extremely poor condition. No effort is spared to find and preserve priceless items like this-so that it can be made available to eager fans.

On another note, some folks oppose the release of his demos as it has been said that MJ was a perfectionist. Perhaps he wouldn't want every last demo out. However, he certainly wasn't opposed to releasing demos. He played a key role in selecting every track for his 2005 Ultimate Box Set, with many well-received demos among them.

Perhaps the MJ community can get the word out about BAD 25 via email, FB and Twitter in the next couple of weeks. For the holiday season, I hope fans consider picking up a copy for themselves, family, or friends.It is a positive thing for fans to focus on--not only because of the quality of its content, but because it ensures that the mining of MJ's catalog for more unreleased tracks, video, and so on will continue.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting this, I loved it.
Yes, Bad has been too long in Thriller album shadow, and after reading reviews for BAD 25, nearly all the critics give lots of praise to it. Why it is good now after 25 years, but wasn't good 25 years earlier? Odd! Anyway, this release brought respect to Bad album which was long overdue.

I fully understand their problem trying to please every fans needs and wants, and all the boycotting for various reasons will hopefully gone by Dangerous anniversary edition comes out.
 
I have to admit I haven't read the whole thread but here are my points:

1) don't worry about what relatively few fans say on message boards. This product didn't perform poorly because a few hardcore message boarders boycotted the product, or because it didn't appeal to them, it failed because the product didn't appeal to the wider music-buying public. The product was a good one, it was widely acclaimed as such and from that perspective was a big success. I personally believe that because of all the negative press over the years and because MJ had not released a commercially successful product since 2001 (some may say since 1995!), the MJ fan base has shrunk to a much smaller number than Sony or the MJ Estate realise. That will make it difficult to sell any product like BAD25 unless it has crossover appeal.

2) MICHAEL ALBUM:
It is possible that the debacle surrounding the Michael album harmed sales, but I'm not sure that's the case. The message boards are visited by a relatively small number of fans, and of those only a small percentage are against future Sony/MJ products as a result of 'Michael'. If you look at the music buying public, most of them have probably forgotten about the 'Michael' situation already. Let's move on from that album.
There were several aspects of the product and promotion that failed IMO.

2) PEPSI:
The pepsi promotion could have been an incredible move. I thought it was brilliant in concept but highly flawed in reality. Pepsi appeared to sideline the MJ 'promotion'. They only featured it on a small range of their products and it wasn't advertised sufficiently in the USA. Even the MJ fans who knew the cans existed could not find them in their local store, which is a sure sign that the 'promotion' isn't working. If MJ fans can't find them then how the heck is the 'promotion' going to attract potential buyers for BAD25??
Pepsi is a global brand and so there is no excuse for them being unable to get the cans into prominant store positions. Many countries (such as the UK) didn't receive the cans at all! It would be interesting to see how the BAD25 album sold in the Asian territories where promo appeared to be more visible and those countries where they received the Pepsi promo later, coinciding with the BAD25 album release better.
A second big flaw about the Pepsi promotion in the USA was the fact that it ended BEFORE the album was even released, so if by some miracle a potential buyer had stumbled across an MJ promo can hidden in the corner of their rarely visited store and was interested about BAD25 they were likely to have forgotten about when it was released.

3) DOCUMENTARY:
The BAD25 documentary was released too late to aid the promtion of the album IMO. By the time the documentary hit the airwaves the album had bombed and it was too late to bring it back. This should not have been a surprise to the MJ Estate or Sony as some of us here on the fan boards had said this would happen right from the beginning.

4) General promotion:
I can only speak for the UK on this point, but I didn't see any promotion.
We didn't get the Pepsi cans. The BAD25 documentary (which was aired too late anyway) didn't seem to receive any promotion. I saw no adverts, magazine adverts or display stands in stores when BAD25 was released. All I saw was an advert for the album after the documentary was aired (which as I Said before was too late!).

5) Release date:
Personally I thought the BAD25 products were ideal Christmas presents and so I Was surprised when I saw they had a release date so early in the year as I knew that even if sales were good they would not last until the Christmas shopping period was in full swing. I would have preferred a release date to coincide with the documentary, with display stands in stores or at least a prominant position (i.e. in the 'NEW ALBUM' section of stores) when the documentary aired.

4) REMIXES:
While some MJ fans were against the remix treatment of BAD25 tracks, I for one was happy with the concept of re-releasing an MJ track to impact radio and hopefully sales charts. What better way to promote a product? I mentioned it several times before BAD25 was released, but 'A Little LEss Conversation' was an incredible success for Elvis. Personally I liked the Pitbull remix, but for some reason it was widely panned (and not just by MJ fans) and so perhaps it wasn't a wise choice. To me the remix idea was half-assed, perhaps when they saw the reaction on the fan boards they scaled it down? WHy bother going to the effort of paying Afrojack to remix a track and Pitbull to rap on it, then not promote it??? It seems like a waste to me.
If the remix had been successful, with a good music video and some proper promotion, I guarantee the sales for BAD25 would have been much higher in the USA.

The reason why products from acts like The Beatles, Elvis, and to a lesser extent Bob Marley have had major success since their death (or since they split in the case of The Beatles) is because their products have appealed to a wider demographic, continuing to attract a new audience over time. Part of that is because the media loves them and the receive praise in every article (BAD25 - the album and documentary - seemed to achieve that, so they were successful in that way).
Anyway, BAD25 was a brilliant opportunity to capitalise what many people consider to be MJ's last great album so it's sad to see that it failed. I don't think the MJ EState or Sony can have any greater success with Dangerous or HIStory after this, but it would be great to try. Perhaps if LA Reid is right and there really is a great single to be released from his Dangerous sessions, maybe they can tweak that for Dangerous25 and have a hit single. That would (IMO) go a long way to securing a succesful anniversary package. The MJ Estate and Sony would have to be prepared for potential backlash from the closed minded fans about updating the single for today's audience but I for one would be happy as long as it was a hit. Perhaps they should include the updated single as well as the original track in the package for the purists.
 
MJ The Experience is the perfect example of how successful a post-June 25th product can be when a great product is properly marketed. The biggest single artist seller ever. 2 years later..still outselling Black eyed peas. Over 4.1M units sold of WII-game alone. 5.6M all platforms.

Too bad there aren't enough publicly known MJ songs left for a second game.
 
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