Michael's current record label situation

Foxy..

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As most fans know, since 'Off the Wall' back in 1979, up until 2001 with the release of 'Invincible' Michael released his major studio albums with 'Epic Recordings'. After these releases, there were various greatest hits and ultimate collections coming out on the 'Sony BMG' record label. And then most recently 'Thriller 25' was released with 'Epic/Legacy Recordings'

(Man, our dude gets around record labels like Liz Taylor has honeymoons!)

As most of us know, there are strong rumors which have pretty much confirmed that Michael is working on and releasing a new album in the coming months.

Will this album be released with 'Epic' or 'Sony BMG' or similar established label? Or will it be released on Michael's own label 'MJJProductions'/'MJJ INC.'?

Also, what are the advantages/disadvantages of releasing with his own label and vice versa with an established label with lots of artists already on it?

And finally, what is his current record label situation, is he signed?
 
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I've got a feeling that Michael will be releasing it with Sony or at least distributing it with Sony. The release of Thriller 25 and the promotion for it which has been done and now the announcement of a tribute CD to be released in August makes me think that Sony and Michael are on good terms or that Sony is at least vying for Michael to release his new album with them. It's possible that Michael may be funding the album entirely himself and that Sony will just distribute it meaning that Michael will gain maximum profit from his release.
 
I thought 'Thriller 25' was on 'Epic/Legacy Recordings'

Confused much? lol

Well I thought that Epic/Legacy recordings was a part of Sony. I mean Beyonce's albums are under the Legacy record label and she is under Sony.
 
I thought 'Thriller 25' was on 'Epic/Legacy Recordings'

Confused much? lol

Epic and Legacy are all owned by Sony. They are just different divisions that release albums. One is geared towards re-releases but i forget which. Sony has several labels they release material on. Im no expert on this topic however I can tell you with confidence that Epic and Legacy are 100% owned by Sony.
 
How many people actually include what record label it is in their decision to buy a CD or not, especially if it's someone that everyone knows like Michael Jackson?
 
Epic and Legacy are all owned by Sony. They are just different divisions that release albums. One is geared towards re-releases but i forget which. Sony has several labels they release material on. Im no expert on this topic however I can tell you with confidence that Epic and Legacy are 100% owned by Sony.

Yeah that''s exactly what I thought. I was sure that Legacy Recordings, Epic etc are all divisions of Sony.
 
Right I have looked around and Legacy is the re-release sector of Sony.. I kind of understand a bit more now.

Anyway, is he signed to a deal?

What are the advantages/disadvantages..? Who would you like to see him release with in terms of promotion etc..
 
Right I have looked around and Legacy is the re-release sector of Sony.. I kind of understand a bit more now.

Anyway, is he signed to a deal?

What are the advantages/disadvantages..? Who would you like to see him release with in terms of promotion etc..

I don't think anyone knows whether he has signed to a deal or not right now. There hasn't been any announcement about it. Sony are hit and miss promotion wise, I like the internet campaign they did for Thriller 25 and the SoBe water commercial was a great move but in terms of actual tv advertisement for the album I think they could have done better and I really don't think they did a good job at promoting The Girl Is Mine 2008 as a single in the UK, the majority of people didn't even know about it and record stations didn't play some even citing Sony as the reason.

Def Jam are great at promoting their artists within the US but are not good at promoting them globally as evidenced by Janet Jackson's and Mariah Carey's latest releases.

Virgin seemed really keen to sign Michael up after the trial, they seem like a viable option.

I kind of think the best move for MJ would be go independent and release it on his own label and just get Sony to distribute it. That way he would be maximising profit and plus he would have more creative freedom in terms of his music, videos, promotion and choosing his single releases.
 
How many people actually include what record label it is in their decision to buy a CD or not, especially if it's someone that everyone knows like Michael Jackson?

I think the only reason they ask is because they wanna know for sure when Mike releases an album that he either re-signed with Sony, signed with another company or is putting out independently. Right now, no one has a clue to his label situations.
 
Mike has alot of options. He can sign with Sony again...or Universal...Virgin is another option. Then theres the Starbucks option, Live Nation is another route he could take. And if none of that appeals to him then he could just release it under his own label. There are alot of different paths Michael can take. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
 
MJ ain't trying to sign anymore deals with a Major unless they give him his masters as part of the deal and the only time I heard he was serious about thinking about signing somewhere was a few years back with LA Reid for a two album project and a 50 million dollar budget but that deal didn't go down and then I heard MJ was serious thinking about selling a Album directly through QVC. I can't see him going back to Sony after all that has gone down. only for a Distribution and Marketing deal but even that might be a bit too much.

I see MJ wanting to do the Indy thing or doing a Starbucks thing if he does get back into the game on a grand scale.

time will tell though.
 
Whatever he does, if he wants a chance at charting and airplay, he's gonna need distribution at the minimum.
 
Artists often sign single-album deals to distribute an album. They don't always sign long-term contracts. This is especially true in the case of someone like Michael Jackson who does not have any trouble selling enough albums to make a one-time deal worthwhile.

Sony and MJ could easily agree upon a deal to release a new album.
 
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The Jacksons signed from Motown to Epic/CBS Records. Sony bought Epic so MJ has technically been with Sony since he left Motown. MJ only had a prob with Sony or more so Tommy Mottola when Invincible was released. Since Mottola has been gone, MJ has been again on good terms with Sony. They'd wanna be nice to him seems he owns half of Sony!! And because T25 was released through Epic/Legacy (being owned by Sony/MJ) its safe to assume that MJ will distribute his new album through the company he half owns which he has recently already done. MJ wont be in a long term contract like previously but rather be in a project by project bases.
 
I think it's safe to assume he is working with Sony again too.

Of course, NO ONE know what kind of deal he has or has not signed- there's been no statement, release or other confirmation.

But realistically, he brought in will.i.am, akon, fergie, Kanye to work on a Sony album. That's gotta tell us something.

Unless it's just a case of "they still own the masters to Thriller" and Michael wanted to make it bigger and better than Sony could, or just different. There's no way of knowing for sure until he makes an announcement OR we see the new album. :D
 
I agree, Dangerous. This new album is gonna come right from Sony. There is no reason for Michael to move to another label. And Sony doesn't want to see him being successful with another record company. Michael is in a place where he can get what he wants from Sony. He is a partner. He aint going nowheres.
 
If he is gonna come back with SONY, it'll probably be for a deal for one album and a good $5 million, Mike don't need $150 million to assure the label he'll give 'em a homerun, come from the side door and then BOOM! If he can do that, three million and $5 million, he good. Then he could do it again for another album or do a deal with an independent company every four years and put out something, I mean he got the power to do that. Everything's just been so hush-hush.
 
Good questions Foxy! It wouldn't come as a surprise to me if that is what the further discussions with Colony and Tom Barrack are about. I think MJ will be more into short term projects and having full control.
 
Foxy said:
Will this album be released with 'Epic' or 'Sony BMG' or similar established label? Or will it be released on Michael's own label 'MJJProductions'/'MJJ INC.'?

There will be probably no Jackson's own label since Michael does not have the infrastructure. And it is not usually profitable to maintain such infrastructure only for one artist, even big one. So most probably Epic Records will be still Jackson's label with his contract being prolonged to new project.

Manufacturing/distribution deal with Sony-BMG ME will probably still active anyway, even if improbable thing to happen and Michael will refuse of Epic Records services.
 
label affilliation aint nothing but a name. the major factor is the distribution details.
 
I think a Live Nation contract is not the best solution for MJ, it means to give away all the image rights and everything else and be forced to produce a certain amount of albums and tours in a certain period for a fixed amount of money.
It is good for those artist who always need a big advertising campaign to sell good numbers, those artists who spend a lot of money for doing a tour with 10000000 dancers, special effects and so on, and those kind of artists who put a new album on the market every 2 years.
MJ is different, he is not going to make big tours anymore cause he doesn't like them, he is not putting an album on the market very often, he doesn't like to be told to do what they forced him to do or to do a fast work without paying attention to any artistic issue, he doesn't need an huge advertising campaign to sell good as we have all seen, even nowadays.
I think the best solution for him is to produce the album by himself and then propose it to Sony Music, they have showed respect for MJ since Mottola has gone, so I think it will be the best thing to do, and I really liked the advertising campaing of T25, very unique and very cute, and much more than what they did for invincible.
 
I think Michael will release his new album with Sony or at least have them distribute it for him. My impression is that Michael and Sony would patch up there differences, and that seems to be the case.
 
I hope so it doesn't bother me which label he releases I would like to see him start his own, I am a little dubious about sony after the past and Michael having to bail them out on more than 3 occassions and a repeat of Invincible, I am so dissappointed with that and everyone says the album was crap when it wasn't it was not promoted properly and Sony deserted Michael, after all he has done for them. You know Michael could always take over and run Sony and it would be run properly and the artists would get their proper share and not someone double dipping like Tommy Motola.

We will see regardless I will have at least 2 copies of the album anyway.
 
The Jacksons signed from Motown to Epic/CBS Records. Sony bought Epic so MJ has technically been with Sony since he left Motown. MJ only had a prob with Sony or more so Tommy Mottola when Invincible was released. Since Mottola has been gone, MJ has been again on good terms with Sony. They'd wanna be nice to him seems he owns half of Sony!! And because T25 was released through Epic/Legacy (being owned by Sony/MJ) its safe to assume that MJ will distribute his new album through the company he half owns which he has recently already done. MJ wont be in a long term contract like previously but rather be in a project by project bases.

Dieter Weisner who ran Sony before Mottola was an arrogant and nasty person too!! But I'm worried that they will take advantage of Michael again, I know Mike has a good heart but I'm sick of him bailing sony out of the mess that it does and the side that Mike has nothing to do with, I know he has done it number of times because he wants the artists to be entitled to a fair share after all the work they put into an album. Yes too that if the artists sue sony they will sue mike too, but why should Mike be the one to always do it, yes he has the $$$$ to do it but c'mon why leave it to one person surely there are other big artists to help out too you know.. Plus sony need all the help they can get cause a lot of the big artists have left, Celine has left her latest album is her last with sony, the osbornes, ozzie and kelly have left, and that are just a few i know of
 
If I'm not mistaken, the Sony labels are not from Sony 100%. They merged with BMG (Bertelsmann), so it's now Sony/BMG. I think all labels reside under that flag now.

I think Michael should use Sony for distribution only, not a 'classic' contract. He can choose his own direction that way, while still having a company as distributor. Simply Red has taken that path. They couldn't get a record deal, so singer Mick Hucknall released an album himself, with only a distributor. He had his most succesfull album in years then. Times have changed.

Also promotionwise, you have to have the focus of the label 100%. Otherwise, you can just about forget it.
 
Dieter Weisner who ran Sony before Mottola was an arrogant and nasty person too!!
Dieter Wiesner never was a record company exec!

Plus sony need all the help they can get cause a lot of the big artists have left, Celine has left her latest album is her last with sony, the osbornes, ozzie and kelly have left, and that are just a few i know of
Well, obviously being at the center of attention, being the main artist, would be a good thing for Michael! If Michael is important for them financially, then they will do everything in their power to make sure Michael is a success!

I general I agree, doing pro album distribution deals would be the way to go... if the album does well, meaning if they pushed the album well enough, they will get another album... if they fucked up he's gone and is free to work with a different company!

And yeah, Live Nation is only an option if he's commited to touring, which he isn't!
 
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