Some do not seem to be aware that Motown is the ONLY music label that is a musical genre in and of itself.
Let. That. Simmer.
This project will do just fine for Time-Life regardless of how much footage there is of Michael in rehearsal and whether any MJ fans purchases it and any realist would know that. Time-Life offerings are usually quite successful in general and it is often because their products offer so much entertainment/informational value to the consumer as evident in the packaging. The Estate will be enriched from this venture and not by the purposely and ridiculously low phantom numbers listed in this thread.
Again, the amount of footage of Michael during rehearsals is to pique the purchasing power of some MJ fans, not all fans and definitely not all purchasers. There are some MJ fans that are aware of the grand talent and timeless music from Motown’s artists. There was a reason Joe wanted his sons on that label and one can see that during this anniversary special. The success of this project does not hinge on footage of Michael in rehearsal; that notion shows ignorance to the legend of Motown and is simply ridiculous.
Xscape peaked in the U.S. at number two because the Estate decided to distribute free copies of the cd to Cirque Immortal/One attendees. That number of free cds is the difference between Xscape and I believe it was the Black Keys at the time. That unwise decision was dismissed by a few here in favor of the boycotter concept without ever noting the weak strength of those boycotting fans or noting that many illegal copies were directly related to Sony’s streams of each song and Xscape’s staggered release dates around the world instead of a universal release date.
OnirMJ, I own WATW on VHS and DVD. To suggest anyone brought that only for the limited footage of Michael is a bit narrow in view. The world does not revolve around Michael Jackson. WATW was a great achievement and a grand collection of talents which was, I dare say, the major reason many brought it including MJ fans. It will be the same reason the Motown25 package will be successful for Time-Life regardless of the Estate not releasing the full rehearsals. To your point however, if WATW was released today, the Estate most likely would agree to that ten minutes of Michael being released as Columbia Records (the label WATW was released on) is now part of Sony. It would succeed again, because of the collection of talent, not solely Michael’s ten minutes.
InvincibleTal;4047570 said:
Don't forget Michael had his own conditions to perform in Motown 25 - He said he'd only do it if he'd be able to do a solo song too, Did he not? that itself supports what Onir said.
InvincibleTal, no, it supports what I said: Gordy had the good sense to let Michael sing solo. That decision was made without any foreseeable, financial benefit to himself or his label, Motown. If the only way to have J5 reunite was for Michael to sing solo then, Gordy was wisely fine with it. Everything else is hindsight so Gordy deserves that credit.
I agree Michael’s fanbase increased during Thriller. For lack of better terms, the
older fans enjoyed the reunion of J5 and were aware of Michael and his talents while the
newer fans were curious about Michael as they were introduced to him after Motown25 and the Thriller video and it is same difference after Michael’s passing. As evident on this forum, some fans are very resistant to Michael’s full career and prefer to focus on Michael’s solo career minus the Motown era and sometimes even OTW/Thriller eras. The success of Motown’s releases in the 80’s depended mostly on those
new fans as the
old fans already had those releases.
Lastly, it is not a fact that Estate releases garner more revenue than a venture they receive royalties and/or fees (such as licensing) on. One only has to look at Cirque for that fact.
Adding:
InvincibleTal;4047570 said:
Our existence is making Motown (or its newer brand versions) money cause we're buying Michael's solo albums from motown and the Jackson 5 stuff as oppose to people who just like the Motown stuff and buy random albums occasionally.
No. Motown is legend and not only because of J5 and/or Michael; it was everyone on their roster. That music will always be purchased and will be sought after for licensing. That is most likely the main reason Sony/ATV acquired EMI.