Well as you pointed out , how about "Michael Jackson Iconic Performances?"
And allow me to elaborate. On this thread I also made a statement that 99% of the fans on this thread wouldn't spend anywhere between $30 to $80 to get Motown 25 even if full rehearsal was included. I said if they are Motown fans, they could. It resulted in some people approaching it as a negative thing and some cursing. But it wasn't something negative as far as I'm concerned.
And I'll explain it. I'm not a Motown fan. The only other Motown artist I like is Stevie Wonder. No disrespect to other artists but this is not a release I'm interested in. (Just to clarify something - Cirque MJ shows isn't my cup of tea hence I have no intention to ever attend to them either. so my comments about Motown isn't about being dismissive or anything negative, it's just not my cup of tea). The only thing that would interest me is MJ related stuff. However I wouldn't spend $30 to just to get Motown performance on DVD because it's already available on DVD and I already have it. So a rehearsal footage would be the only thing new for MJ fans. Assuming MJ rehearsal footage - if included- came with the deluxe 6 CD version which sells for $80, I wouldn't spend that much to just get that while I didn't care about rest of the DVDs. I probably wouldn't pay $30/$40 to get MJ rehearsal either. So I would watch it on youtube. I believe such cost - value determination would apply to majority of the fans here.
Hence that's also why I think a MJ focused release would work better in terms of revenues as well.
Well firstly there are fans that will pay that amount that have that footage in their collection.
And yes, I can understand your thought process but again, do you really expect them to release a rehearsals DVD in the future? This is stuff that we dream about but it's not realistic. I have never seen a DVD on the market for an artists rehearsals. Yes, Michael did like to be the first to do certain things, but he was also notorious for not releasing unfinished things. So if the estate are "acting in his best interests" then they would really never release it now. Although they could have justified it being as how other artists allowed their rehearsals on the DVD.
"What other artists" argument doesn't really work for MJ and even his Estate. Michael was the first to do many things and his Estate seems to be focused on "first time ever" too. You also had a nice example of Metallica online video database so why not a similar thing cannot happen for MJ?
And I'm not just saying this out of thin air. MJ Accounting has showed has Estate has an ongoing archiving project that has been going on for multiple years and costing multiple millions of dollars to archive and digitize MJ material. Why? If they had no intention to ever use / release such stuff why would they spend the time ,effort and money to work on them? Isn't it logical to assume that the reason they are working on such archiving is because they intend to use the materials one day?
This is literally the first I have ever heard of this.
When you say digitise, are you sure that is for computer purposes? It could just be upgrading the quality and storing it for use in compilations etc or promotional materials. We don't really know what their intentions are. And tbh, I'm not even sure this is true as I have not heard it.
and don't you think stuff like "Michael Jackson Iconic performances" or "Michael Jackson Performance Database" and so on are enough context and reason for a release?
I don't see how a rehearsal for an iconic performance would be on an iconic performance DVD, no. I could see them adding the actual performance, of course.
I also think the chances of said DVD ever being released are slim to none.
true and I already said that no one knows for sure. That's why I try not to make definitive statements or call what others says as crap or BS. We are all expressing opinions here and we don't know who is right.
yes I do and I disagree that it has no basis in reality. Like I said it's not baseless. The archiving project is one of the reasons. Other Estates such as Elvis Presley Estate is another example. It's been 37 years since Elvis was dead and his Estate still earns decent income. I would imagine MJ Estate is also aiming for such longevity hence their one project at a time and space them over time approach. How would they continue to earn money in the long long long term if they don't release what they have? even in this release, Marvin Gaye rehearsal is being released 30 years after his death. So why couldn't they release a MJ rehearsal at 2039 - 30 years after MJ's death? There's also a discussion on this forum about a collector's label which I see as a real possibility. I think right now they are focused on projects that can bring fast and a lot revenues from fans and public but after a while their focus would shift to fans only/mainly.
for example : releasing TII as soon as possible brought them a nice amount of revenue due to public interest. However let's say releasing "Best 10 performances of bad tour" wouldn't attract much public interest regardless of when it is released. So such projects can wait and be released in the distant future on a collectors label and/or video database that targets only die hard fans.
An MJ rehearsal released in 2039? I very much doubt that a rehearsal would be on the top of anyone's list. You're thinking like an MJ fan but you have to think from a business perspective. This sort of thing would never cross their minds.
A collectors label? Again, a nice thought, but nothing I would ever believe would be a good business move for anyone. I have never heard of this before.
It's your opinion that it's delusion. I see it realistic. Let me try to explain: Isn't it realistic for them to have an online video database? If Metallica can do it, can't they do it as well? Isn't it realistic to expect releases 30-40-50 years later as we have seen at Elvis and Marvin Gaye Estates? If your answer is yes then it means we agree it's possible and realistic. Then only whether if it would happen or not becomes our personal opinions. I'm saying it could happen and you are saying it won't happen. It becomes again something that we wouldn't know who's right.
This is where I will have to say they yes, as Metallica have it I can't say that it is 100% unrealistic. But judging on the fact that apparently michael was forgetful, kept things in bad condition, and also didn't want certain materials being released I can't imagine it. You know michael stopped releases of his own concerts when he was alive? So if they are trying to be true to his wishes they will never do this. And the kids will probably agree.
Again, even if all this magical stuff does happen and the stars do align, like I said, there's no GUARANTEE. Business decisions are based on risk. There was a 100% legitimate chance to release this and make sense. Everyone would have understood, everyone would be happy.
And I know that the estate have to think about money also, but they have been blocking release after release after release.
If they are building a massive digital database of material then fine, it will be the first I have heard of it.
I'm interested to hear more about your source about the digitising of material.
One really fascinating thing to me in Suzanne's interview that she went a little more into detail about the letter that Michael had Branca send, that they could not tape the actual performance of "Billie Jean" and he only wanted the house to see it-not include it on the special.
