OnirMJ;4308103 said:It wasn't about the money directly. It was about songwriting credits. The guy from Yellow Magic Orchestra wanted more share of the royalties and MJ and his management wanted 50-50 equal split which I think was fair share.
The 50-50 equal split that Michael Jackson and his management wanted was not fair share.
Chris Mosdell (the lyricist of the song) explained why it was not fair share:
“…I didn’t know who Michael Jackson was - I wasn’t into that whole soul disco stuff … When Michael Jackson recorded it [the ‘Behind The Mask’ song], he also added an extra melody line and a few extra lyrics, so they wanted to split the royalties - which is quite impossible. You can’t take a Beatles song and add a melody line, a few more lyrics, and ask for fifty percent…” (Chris Mosdell)
Derek1984;4308081 said:Not to derail the topic but I doubt Behind The Mask was in serious consideration for the Thriller album. First off, it never would've fit on the album. They had to condense the album as it was and what are you leaving off? Baby Be Mine? Second, you mean to tell me if they REALLY wanted that song on the album, they didn't have the money to make it happen?
‘Behind The Mask’ was in serious consideration for the ‘Thriller’ album, and the proof for that is the fact that Michael Jackson and his management legally tried so hard at that time to resolve the song's royalties disputes in order to include it on the ‘Thriller’ album.