Michael Jackson estate, Sony Music Entertainment strike record distribution deal

[MJStorm]

Bad feeling about this.

The advance amount is so high that if his albums don't sell enough to recoup the advance amount the estate will end up actually owing Sony money. Getting more in debt could contribute to the selling of Michael's share of Sony/ATV. I don't feel this is the case, but I know it'll come up eventually.

I was thinking about it.

 

[Sophielo]

This was always going to be a hot topic with differing opinions, like everything that mentions Sony is. We all have our own opinions but we need to agree to disagree. The one thing we can agree on though is that every one of us here would rather have Michael here with us instead of some poxy record deal.

 

[tricia70]

I find this to be a good deal and I'm happy to see Michael Jackson break another record that will "most likely" NEVER be broken. Kudos to Branca and Company.

Oh and I'm also happy to see all of the headlines this morning regarding Michael Jackson breaking ANOTHER record with this massive deal.

P.S. I always thought that Michael's problem was basically with Thomas Mottola and not Sony, per se and that Michael got his wish when Sony gave Mottola the BIG boot.

You are so right. Mottola was the biggest problem, Michael said so himself. So I hope fans stop being negative about all this and Sony. Let's support him and let's help his legacy live on and on and on...as it should!

 

[DuranDuran]

Re: Sony Places Big Bet on a Fallen 'King'

Blame it on the Boogie

Other than bootlegs, none of the Jacksons or J5 videos or concerts have ever been released. Some of the J5 performances on the Ed Sullivan Show are on the DVD sets of the show episodes, though.

Say,Say,Say

This has been released on Paul McCartney's DVD collection of music videos "The McCartney Years".

 

[DeeEmAych]

u guys are too much.. this is FANTASTIC!!!!

-Dal

 

[144000]

This was always going to be a hot topic with differing opinions, like everything that mentions Sony is. We all have our own opinions but we need to agree to disagree. The one thing we can agree on though is that every one of us here would rather have Michael here with us instead of some poxy record deal.

i surely do agree with that. i surely wish MJ were here...

 

[MsMo]

Re: Invincible

This is another reason why as fans we need to do our part and promote the hell out of it!

:yes: I LUV it! Some fans "got it" and some didn't.

You are so right. Mottola was the biggest problem, Michael said so himself. So I hope fans stop being negative about all this and Sony. Let's support him and let's help his legacy live on and on and on...as it should!

:yes: Bottom line, I think this is the overall best business decision.

 

[mjchris]

With 10 albums over seven years, the deal will involve a mix of previously unreleased songs and new packages of familiar ones.

mmmhm... so another 10 best of's. thanks sony, you idiots! ^^

 

[tricia70]

Granted, I don't know how he felt about Sony last year. Few people would. However he never publicly has shown any positive feeling toward Sony, only negative.

It is on that which I form my personal opinion.

What ppl here fail to understand is that his beef was with Mottola who at the time was Sony. If you hear his speech he specifically mentions Mottola as "being very, very devilish and a racist". It is clear he had a problem with Mottola who was the face of Sony at the time. Mottola was booted or left Sony soon thereafter, and apparently that could be a reason Michael did move on and started working with Sony once again. The ppl running Sony are different these days, obviously. So you can't equate Michael's protests back 8 years ago to the same ppl today. Besides this deal Branca inked seems brilliant! Michael is smiling right now believe me!

 

[tricia70]

Well, to that I say that his last album with new songs was released almost 10 years ago and only featured 2 songs fully written by him and many felt that the album wasn't as good as his previous ones! And with all the crap that happened in those last 10 years, who knows what effect that had on his songwriting! I just hope that there are really some really, really great songs lying in the vault! The sad thing is, that whatever they will put it, we never will know if Michael deemed those songs good enough and ready for release!

The other songs may have been written my other ppl, but how much did they really contribute to the song? maybe one line, one note? who knows? Look at WATW, Michael wrote 99% of the song and he gave Lionel Ritchie credit for the 1% he contributed. Anyway, Michael produced and arranged all his songs and that is huge when it comes to any song whether he wrote it or not.

well..while it seemed that many didn't like invincible, many more did like it.

I am one of them. You should check out Amazon. com where he has a 5 star rating on Invincible. I thought it is a very underrated album to say the least. Maybe some ppl didn't like it because it had too many slow songs, who knows the reasons, but as far as production and quality, and amazing vocals it was all there!

is there ever anything on earth that doesn't have both people liking it, and not liking it?

fact is, there were enough people liking invincible to take it to number 1 in 2001.

For an album that never was promoted as it should have been, that was an amazing feat!

and MJ's magic, goes beyond writing. he didn't write for motown, but he stood out, at motown. MJ's magic is such, that whether he writes, co writes, or just sings, and produces, him just being there, is enough.

and...great songs do come from great pain. and MJ had plenty of pain to work with.

people on this board went crazy for just a snippet of 'another day'. not the whole song.

there are always the last minute people, like the guy in the blog who felt like MJ wasn't at his best in 2001 concerts. but he ended up wanting to see MJ, anyway at the o2.

the curiosity factor, alone, was on MJ's side. so, it's hard for MJ to lose, no matter what. there are enough fans who'll go for whatever he does, to make up for the fans who won't.(not counting the last minute fans who think they won't go for what MJ comes up with, but they are curious, anyway)

see, you're deciding that because you didn't like Invincible that not enough people did. that's not fair, because a lot of people did. and i see a lot of people on this board, giving it a great rating in the groove section.

a person can't decide that his opinion equals everybody's opinion.

like i said before, did you ever approach a company that made a good product, (like a car, for example), and you decided you would have doubts about the next new car they made?



he didn't say that everybody has to be happy. Gaz just said, we should respect each other's opinion.

 

[tricia70]

Yeah, and Britney Spears was #2 and Adam Lambert #3!?

The fans you say didn't like Invincible are the ones that voted it the best album of the decade.

Why are people slagging off Invincible here? Its a great album, I personally love it, there are some really great songs on there.

I agree, You are telling me that Butterflies is not a great song, YRMW, Whatever Happens, Invincible, etc, etc, there are some great songs on there. Maybe not all 16 songs weren't great, but I'd say at least 10 were and that constitutes a great album in my book.

But anyway, I'm looking forward to all his great unreleased material, and look forward to the songs he wrote with Will I Am because I'm sure sooner or later those will be released also.

 

[GinnyJackson]

this is for the new album NOT past projects!

 

[jadore]

I don't know what to say just the name SONY still gives me Goose bumps. I just hope they don’t come out with unfinished material. Of course they will do everything now for him since there is money involved. If only they could do it when he was still here … it makes me wonder if this is actually what MJ wanted. Sometimes I just have a bad feeling that all those money hungry people wanted him gone so they could cash in more. I would love to hear new material or anything from Michael the only thing is that I really really hope it’s finished material that Michael really wanted us to hear and nothing else. God I miss him so much the whole thing is so bittersweet. It’s really hard I really don’t know what to say or think anymore It’s like being in denial I still can't believe it. Maybe it’s more like having a nightmare and never waking up from it.

 

[Graf]

With 10 albums over seven years, the deal will involve a mix of previously unreleased songs and new packages of familiar ones.

mmmhm... so another 10 best of's. thanks sony, you idiots! ^^

If they release 10 best ofs that would be really really bad business decision. I am pretty sure that Sony knows the pulse of the public and what they want. The public wants new material, new songs, new everything. There really is no way around what Sony can do now, they would be shooting themselves in the foot if they release any more greatest hits stuff, if I can can figure that out then surely a huge company like Sony can.

Besides, I'd rather stay optimistic about things, it feels better than being cynical and gloomy about things. Read the rest of the posts here, I don't think they will be doing that.

 

[prettygirlmj]

Dear Sony and The Michael Jackson Estate,

PLEASE for the love of god release:

Victory Tour on DVD

Bad Tour on DVD

History Tour on DVD

With behind the scenes and bonus!

Yes, those 10 albums would be lovely but I would REALLY love the above on DVD.

 

[Rockin.]

So the new deal doesn't include concert DVDs?

Where does it say that? Thought people were talking about a Bad concert coming out on DVD?

edit.. nevermind, found it.

Michael Jackson Deal: $225 Mil Just for Records, Nothing Else

The new Sony deal for Michael Jackson’s new records is actually worth $225 million according to my sources.
That means that Jackson attorneys John Branca (a co-executor) and Joel Katz, with the help of co-executor John McClain, have cut for Michael Jackson’s estate the richest deal ever in recording business history. It far exceeds the deal Sony made with Bruce Springsteen a couple of years ago for $100 million.

The deal is only for records for the next seven years. It already includes the soundtrack to “This Is It.” Come November, the first scheduled release will be a collection of unreleased tracks perhaps including a duet with Paul Anka and one or two songs left off of “Thriller.”
Two more releases will be anniversary editions of “Bad” and “Off the Wall” which will include extra and remixed tracks a la the 25th anniversary edition of “Thriller.” McClain and hopefully Jackson’s longtime manager Frank DiLeo will be involved with those.
There are also enough tracks for at least one or two live albums from various Jackson tours.

The Sony deal does not include anything to do with Michael’s publishing, live shows still to be arranged, or merchandise. A show withCirque du Soleil, as I’ve written before, will be announced shortly for Las Vegas.
But all of that is separate. What happened: Since his death Jackson has sold 31 million albums worldwide. Sony, which had parted company with Jackson before his death, wants to remain in the Jackson business. With this contract, they will be in business with his estate for at least seven more years.

Insiders say that Jackson’s estate will retain the rights to all the master recordings, too. This is highly unusual. Also: Branca, Katz and McClain also, apparently, renegotiated Jackson’s royalty rate with Sony for this deal. “It’s the highest rate anyone’s ever had,” says a source.
At this rate, the prediction is that Jackson’s huge debt leveraged against his own MiJac Music Publishing will be paid off in a short time. His even bigger debt, secured against his one half interest in the Sony/ATV Music Publishing company–also known as the Beatlescatalog–will be refinanced and reduced. When Jackson died, sources point out, he was $500 million in debt.His estate is now solvent, and his children are well taken care for their lives.

It is the sad irony of the Michael Jackson story that for years he suffered financially, and drifted in his career. Since his death. his career and finances have flourished.

http://showbiz411.blogs.thr.com/201...illion-dollars-just-for-records-nothing-else/

This reliable?

 

[ensleyave]

why bother? Sony is the best place for Michael. Keep cranking out the music for us to enjoy. Of course, it is all about us. I can't wait to it is all released because I am personally salivating for MJ to entertain me once again. Hip Hip Hooray. Hurry and get this music a comin. The machine must roll. WEEEEE!

 

[Rockin.]

why bother? Sony is the best place for Michael. Keep cranking out the music for us to enjoy. Of course, it is all about us. I can't wait to it is all released because I am personally salivating for MJ to entertain me once again. Hip Hip Hooray. Hurry and get this music a comin. The machine must roll. WEEEEE!

-_- I know how you feel, I feel similar, but other fans can be excited and joyful they shouldn't feel guilty for feeling that way.

 

[ensleyave]

-_- I know how you feel, I feel similar, but other fans can be excited and joyful they shouldn't feel guilty for feeling that way.

These are my feelings that I am expressing about me. They can feel however they want.

 

[MJ Crazy]

I'm a little speechless right now. Michael hated Sony. In 2002 he talked about "out thinking" Sony and being a "free agent." Eight years later Sony and Michael's estate are involved a record-breaking $250 million deal. Hmmmm...who "out thought" who? I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but it almost makes me wonder.

I'm very excited to hear Michael's "new" music, but I'm sad too.

Michael knew he was just a wheel in their money making machine. :no:

Rest in peace, dear Michael. :angel: The day of reckoning will come.

 

[TurtleDove]

I'm happy we're getting new music but I wish they had gone with another company other than Sony, but oh well... I suppose that was the best choice since Sony owns his catalog anyway.

I have a quesiton though. Why does his mom and kids on get a small allowance since so much money is being made? I'm assuming that once the kids come of age they will get control of the rest?? I think that is what Priscilla did for LMP. She had to be 30 but let her mom control it until she was 35 b/c she felt she wasn't ready.

 

[MJJ:G.O.A.T]

Hm... I really don't want to bring negativity here and I should be happy about this but like some of you said, it just leaves a bitter taste, especially this quote:

"A record contract struck in the early 1980s gave Mr. Jackson ownership of his recordings. Sony had the right to distribute those recordings through 2015. The new deal extends that right until 2017, and adds the rights to material recorded since then."

From what I know Mike was almost 'free' as in he would have gotten the rights back in 3 years (maybe I'm wrong?) but this says that Sony will still own them AND the other songs that Mike's done on his own since he left them.
That to me is wrong - but of course... what can you do? I will probably buy the new stuff *sigh* .....

I don't read that quote as Sony now owns MJ's post 2003 material (the masters) but that they now have the right to distribute it.

i have such mixed emotions about this. i was thinking today what if this anouncement was made after the concerts had finished. mj finished the run in triumph and then a few weeks later we have an anouncement about a huge deal. the joy i would have felt the joy of going up to haters and saying f*** you the king is back. but all i can do is sit here feeling,well i dont know what to feel and i dont know how i should feel. so when i read though this thread seeing ppl moaning/arguing about whether its gonna be 5 g.Hits or 2 or 1 all i can do is sit here and shake my head and say to myself you really dont it get do you. in the scheme of things none of it matters

I feel you. He should be here. He would have probably made a deal to distribute his new albums with one of the major record companies.

All this freaking out about the "how" and "what" regarding the 10 projects wouldn't be happening if he was here. We'd trust in his genius that he'd put out great albums and great films.

no. mjs contract ran out in 03. the final release of the 91 contract was the number one album

its written poorly but what i think its saying is that any music mj recorded after 03 sony have the right to distrubute it. because mjs contract with sony ended in 03 any music mj recorded after that like all the stuff in ireland the estate totally owned. there was no right by sony like they have with music recorded/released when mj was signed to them. so i presume they are talking about that

according to reports he owned the masters from i think bad upwards. the others would have reverted in 2011

Thanks elusive for clearing that up. What I am thinking is that the Estate will still receive the ownership of the rest of the masters in 2011. The articles (correct me if I'm wrong) say nothing about Sony now owning post 2003 masters but that they have the right to distribute them and an extension on distributing previous material.

 

[PCR]

The Sony deal does not include anything to do with Michael’s publishing, live shows still to be arranged, or merchandise. A show with Cirque du Soleil, as I’ve written before, will be announced shortly for Las Vegas.

:bugeyed

:wild:

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!

Just hope that is trueee lease:

 

[Foxy..]

what's interesting is, that the media always said that Universal music was the biggest and best. now, all of a sudden, after MJ's death, Sony is the biggest?

Obviously Univeral Music is as big if not bigger, I don't know the in's and out's of the music business to know. But I would say that Sony have more knowhow when it comes to Michael Jackson, surely? I know there is a lot of skepticism because of repackaged, re-released material fans have grown weary of over the years but ultimately their relationship with Michael is stronger than anyone's in terms of getting his music out there. I believe that Epic is a branch of Sony.

This is quoted from the Epic website which really gives me a warm fuzzy feeling when it comes to this new project(s).

"We believe we have a partner in Sony that knows and appreciates Michael's artistry as well as the passion of his fans. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Sony to preserve and enhance his remarkable musical legacy."
John McClain (Assuming he is a CEO or something of Epic?)

Source: http://www.epicrecords.com/news/est...-30-year-relationship-landmark-recording-deal

 

[PCR]

Did you bother reading ANY of the news reports posted here?

Hint: I think you might want to read at least ONE ...before you post a reply. :no:

Yes, those 10 albums would be lovely but I would REALLY love the above on DVD.

FYI, 10 PROJECTS...not 10 albums.

emmm.... honestly.... Relax!!! :agree: Who cares? We ALL can be wrong in this, all this info is only 24 hours old (in the news, we have been reading about for a while now). So 10 DVDs, Blue Rays, Cds, whatever!! We have all been claiming for new legal MJ stuff for years. So let's do what we MJ fans do the best: WAIT!!

What if we all come back here within 7 years and see who got it right? What do you think? We have really SEVEN YEARS to find out. -_-

please... :scratch:

 

[ivy]

everyone please stay on the topic without picking on other members. thanks

 

[Annie123]

I'm happy we're getting new music but I wish they had gone with another company other than Sony, but oh well... I suppose that was the best choice since Sony owns his catalog anyway.

I have a quesiton though. Why does his mom and kids on get a small allowance since so much money is being made? I'm assuming that once the kids come of age they will get control of the rest?? I think that is what Priscilla did for LMP. She had to be 30 but let her mom control it until she was 35 b/c she felt she wasn't ready.

They are on an allowance because the estate is still in probate. Once the probate process is complete the estate will be transfered to the Family Trust and the money distributed according to the instructions in the Trust (which are not public, but there's been lots of reports about the disposition under the Trust - 40% to the kids, 40% to Katherine for her lifetime, then it goes to the kids, and 20% to charities, not specified which ones. When the kids actually get control of their money (vs adminisrators) is not known).

There's three steps in the probate process:
- valuing the estate (not done yet as far as I know, includes making sure monies owed are paid etc)
- settling the accounts (dealing with the creditors' claims)
- transferring the funds to the heirs (in this case the Trust)

It can take years for large and complicated estates to be probated since there may be lawsuits etc. So in the meantime the estate is in a kind of limbo and Katherine and the kids get an allowance.

 

[Courtney]

I've seen this being announced on my local news stations all day. This is so exciting!

 

[ivy]

I believe it is important for all of us to understand that this is a distribution deal and not a record deal.

you can be a free agent and you will still need to have a distribution deal. In an average distribution deal the artist finishes the album in a way that they like and then take it to the distributing company. The company then prints and ships the album, makes it available through itunes etc. Once the sales revenues are collected the costs (such as printing and promotion) is deducted and the revenues are shared by the artist and the company.

In short artist owns the masters and the rights to their songs and only agrees to a distribution agreement with the company. and this distribution agreements are definitely needed even if you are a free agent or a big star with a lot of money. Can you think of any artist printing copies of their album and shipping it in boxes to the record stores across the globe? The record companies already has distribution networks in place and therefore you need to have a distribution partner.

We have a piece of information that can ease your minds in the Sony argument

A record contract struck in the early 1980s gave Mr. Jackson ownership of his recordings. Sony had the right to distribute those recordings through 2015. The new deal extends that right until 2017, and adds the rights to material recorded since then.

The above part tells us that Michael got (or will soon get) the complete ownership of his old recordings so they aren't under Sony's control or owned by them. The estate keeps the ownership for the new ones as well. More importantly the bolded part tells us that there was already a distribution deal in place until 2015. Apparently Michael did agree to a distribution deal with Sony when he was alive. This could also explain Thriller 25. It was done after Michael's record deal with Sony ended and when he was a free agent. Most probably he did the album and just had Sony distribute it.

Also when you look to the reported information you can see that 1) Michael's ownership rights stay with the estate 2) it doesn't include his image and merchandise. This once again shows that the estate has the majority of the control and the agreement with Sony is only in regards to distribution of the material.

Overall when you look to this deal it is incredible and unbelievable. Music industry has been in a decline (30% something). Michael is able to do this big deal only on publishings. Yes there have been other artists with big deals but those included merchandise and/or concerts. This is genuinely amazing and shows that Michael is the greatest artist that ever lived.

 

[DuranDuran]

Can you think of any artist printing copies of their album and shipping it in boxes to the record stores across the globe? The record companies already has distribution networks in place and therefore you need to have a distribution partner.

A few acts like the Rolling Stones, Prince, & the Eagles have printed up their own albums and/or videos and sold them through a certain store like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, & Target. But this only works because these acts already have a fan base that will purchase their records and don't have to have radio airplay to sell. They also don't have to sell as much as they would on a major label to make a profit. All of the money goes to the act and not the middleman (the label). Prince tried to do his own distribution in the 1990s, but it was too expensive and too much work and it didn't really work out too well, so he later did some one album distribution deals with major labels like EMI & Columbia. He also put on of his albums in the newspaper in England or passed them out at concerts.