Imagine you were jointly responsible for the marketing of Thriller 40

[mind&magic]

Imagine you were jointly responsible for the marketing of Thriller 40 at the Estate/Sony. What ideas do you have to make the project as successful as possible?

 

[telimens]

listening party would be nice as a live streaming on amazon, apple in the premiere of the project. something like the weeknd did on the dawn fm album imo.

 

[staywild23]

I love the idea of Thriller and The Making of Thriller in 4K on a major streaming platform, in addition to YouTube. I just imagine on Netflix having Thriller content on the front page all of October. That would be some incredible promotion.

 

[AlwaysThere]

Reissue “The Girl Is Mine” in mid-October with the solo demo, the songwriting work tape, and a new music video with the unreleased recording studio footage.

4K remasters of all three short films and Making Michael Jackson’s Thriller premiere on Netflix on/around Halloween.

Listening party held at Hayvenhurst.

 

[staywild23]

Reissue “The Girl Is Mine” in mid-October with the solo demo, the songwriting work tape, and a new music video with the unreleased recording studio footage.

I've been wondering about this. For other anniversary releases, is there typically a single release? I feel like there should be!

 

[AlwaysThere]

I've been wondering about this. For other anniversary releases, is there typically a single release? I feel like there should be!

I’m not sure! I know Prince has done it, but generally it seems like anniversary releases are one and dones. I definitely agree!

 

[SmoothGangsta]

I've been wondering about this. For other anniversary releases, is there typically a single release? I feel like there should be!

I have seen it quite often recently with reissues. There is usually one or two digital singles leading up to release. Not with big promo or anything, though.

 

[R1chard]

I have a few things.

(1) Sound quality. Make sure it sounds better than any previous release, otherwise what's the point of rereleasing it?
(2) Sound quality. So important I mentioned it twice. Don't just compress it so it sounds louder. Actually make it better.
(3) Sound quality. Release the 5.1 surround mix that MJ had commissioned back in the day. A lot if the songs would suit it (imagine the PYTs spread out so you can tell who's who).

That's really it. I don't need a Limited Edition Ultra Special Mega Exclusive Collector Version 4-disc box set full of filler that I already own.

New albums are supposed to sound better than old versions, not worse. The original album sounds great, so they've got the material to work with. There's no excuse for the 2001 SE or T25 to sound as bad as they did.

Imagine if the press coverage was "this is the best version ever". That's gotta sell more than "here are some embarrassing remixes".

As for promotion... It's well known that 7 of the 9 songs on the album did well as singles. Why not release a single of Lady In My Life and try to make it 8?

 

[BUMPER SNIPPET]

Ideas

I'd:
-Release all the unreleased songs from that era
-Release a full 12# Thriller album with video version of the song Thriller
-Release a badass remix of the album
-Hire an artist & scenarist to create a Thriller comics
-Invest in Netflix series called Thriller based on MJ's Thriller (with MJ's and 80s music in the background)
-Release Triumph and Victory Tour on Blu Ray with a bonus disc containing the compilation of MJ's interviews, commercials, highlights from various movies mentioning MJ, unseen video footages of MJ in the studio and around the world + the Jacksons
-Invest in developing an elaborate video game containing elements of Thriller and Beat it
-Various merchandizing, action figures with zombies etc.
-Sell t-shirts, pants, jackets, clothes replicas from Beat It video in various colors.

 

[zinniabooklover]

Imagine if the press coverage was "this is the best version ever". That's gotta sell more than "here are some embarrassing remixes".

As for promotion... It's well known that 7 of the 9 songs on the album did well as singles. Why not release a single of Lady In My Life and try to make it 8?

 

[Fuzball]

Release the 5.1 surround mix that MJ had commissioned back in the day.

MJ did not approve Mick Guzausky's 5.1 mix of Thriller.

 

[SeriousFX]

Reissue “The Girl Is Mine” in mid-October with the solo demo, the songwriting work tape, and a new music video with the unreleased recording studio footage.

4K remasters of all three short films and Making Michael Jackson’s Thriller premiere on Netflix on/around Halloween.

Listening party held at Hayvenhurst.

Definitely a must. I was impressed with how the Spice Girls handled their debut album's remastering, so I hold them, Prince's estate, and Elvis' estate up as the gold standards for how deluxe editions should be handled from now on.

 

[mikey82james]

I would release a single
Then 4K short films and making of thriller
New documentary on making the album thriller

 

[Nite Line]

We live in a day and age of streaming. Sales don't matter. If they sales of Thriller 40 are low, but the streams are high, then the project is a success.

So I would make sure that weeks leading up to the release of Thriller 40, Michael is featured on most of the main playlists on spotify, apple music & other streaming platforms. That is the best way to promote Michael's music and create anticipation for Thriller 40.

 

[mjjcn1432]

The tracklist would be...

Disc 01 - Original Remastered Album
01 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
02 Baby Be Mine
03 The Girl Is Mine
04 Thriller
05 Beat It
06 Billie Jean
07 Human Nature
08 P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
09 The Lady In My Life

Disc 02 - The Making Of Thriller
01 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [Demo]
02 Baby Be Mine [Demo]
03 The Girl Is Mine [Demo]
04 Starlight [Demo]
05 Beat It [Demo]
06 Billie Jean [Demo]
07 Human Nature [Demo]
08 P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) [Demo]
09 The Lady In My Life [Demo]
10 Got The Hots
11 Carousel
12 Hot Street
13 She's Trouble
14 Nite Line
15 The Toy [Demo]
16 Behind The Mask [Demo]

Disc 03 - The Continuation Of Thriller
01 Say Say Say
02 The Man
03 Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (Too Good To Be True)
04 Somebody's Watching Me
05 Be Not Always
06 State Of Shock [Demo]
07 Victory [Demo]
08 Pyramid Girl [Demo]
09 There Must Be More To Life Than This [Demo]
10 Love Never Felt So Good [Demo]
11 Don't Matter To Me [Demo]
12 This Is It [Demo]
13 Scared Of The Moon [Demo]
14 Centipede [Demo]
15 Eaten Alive [Demo]
16 We Are The World [Demo]

Disc 04 - 7" & 12" Single Versions, Vol. 1
01 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [7" Edit]
02 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [7" Instrumental]
03 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [Extended 12" Mix]
04 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [12" Instrumental]
05 The Girl Is Mine [7" Version]
06 Can't Get Outta The Rain
07 Thriller [Radio Edit]
08 Thriller [Special Edit]
09 Thriller [Remixed Short Version]
10 Thriller [Instrumental]
11 Beat It [Single Edit]
12 Beat It [Instrumental]
13 Beat It [12" Extended Mix]

Disc 05 - 7" & 12" Single Versions, Vol. 2
01 Billie Jean [Original LP Version]
02 Billie Jean [Original 12" Version]
03 Billie Jean [12" Instrumental]
04 Human Nature [7" Remix]
05 Human Nature [Instrumental]
06 P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) [Instrumental]
07 The Lady In My Life [Uncut Version]
08 Someone In The Dark [Single Version]
09 Say Say Say [John "Jellybean" Benitez Remix]
10 Say Say Say [John "Jellybean" Benitez Instrumental]
11 Michael Jackson Epic Original 1984 Megamix

Disc 06 - Classic Remixes
01 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [Brothers In Rhythm House Mix]
02 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [Tommy D's Main Mix]
03 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [Johnny Vicious Club Mix]
04 Thriller [Frankie Knuckles & David Morales Remix]
05 Thriller [Danny Tenaglia Mix]
06 Beat It [Moby's Sub Mix]
07 Billie Jean [Four On The Floor Remix]
08 Billie Jean [Tony Moran's Luscious Vocal Mix]
09 Thriller Megamix

Disc 07 - Live At The Victory Tour
01 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
02 Things I Do For You [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
03 Off The Wall [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
04 Human Nature [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
05 This Place Hotel (A.K.A. Heartbreak Hotel) [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
06 She's Out Of My Life [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
07 Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (Too Good To Be True) [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
08 I Want You Back / The Love You Save / I'll Be There [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
09 Rock With You [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
10 Lovely One [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
11 Workin' Day And Night [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
12 Beat It [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
13 Billie Jean [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
14 Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground) [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]

Plus a DVD of all related music videos and live performances

 

[filmandmusic]

@mjjcn1432 not enough discs

 

[R1chard]

MJ did not approve Mick Guzausky's 5.1 mix of Thriller.

Well, in that case he didn't approve Bad 25 or the Wembley DVD or TII... In fact, there have been 12 albums released since he died, lots of them containing unreleased remixes or demos.

But aren't you at least curious to know what the 5.1 mix sounds like? Look at Sgt Pepper or Automatic for the People. When they had anniversaries, there was a 12-channel Dolby Atmos mix... Why does MJ have to be the poor relative?

Live At The Victory Tour

Definitely agree with this. It's basically the only tour of this album.

A Thriller surround mix or Victory video are literally the only thing that would make me buy this.

 

[83magic]

I’ve noticed that these leaks so far have all been demos. I guess I assumed that some of them (‘she’s trouble’ and ‘got the hots’) would be con-temporised. it’s still early days, but I think they should start promoting this release this month. my concern is how to do this without a single? I guess they would have to rely on the documentary. or wait until the ‘thriller’ song/short film annually trends at around this time of year. either way, ‘thriller’ is the biggest selling album of all time. therefore this project needs to be accessible to both the general public and the fans. I’m excited to see what happens.

 

[dam2040]

It's not a popular opinion and it's not something I'd be as interested in as new demos, but I'd get someone like Mark Ronson or Daft Punk to rework one of the Thriller demo's (Hot Street) and put someone like The Weeknd on it.

It would be the best way to secure commercial success for the project, especially if it is true that MJE think every project should be a smash hit & do Xscape numbers at minimum.

Now, as it's an anniversary release, the fan in me, for the fans would do the following:
Disc 1 - Thriller
Disc 2 - Unheard demos/songs that didn't make the cut
Disc 3 - Remixes/LP Edits/Alternate Takes

Netflix would get The Making of Thriller and 'Thriller' in 4K UHD. YouTube would get Thriller, Billie Jean and Beat It remastered in 4K too.

It's difficult because Thriller 50 will be the big celebration, so they can't go 'all out' and it does confuse me as to why they are marking a 40th anniversary, but hey ho.

 

[mikey82james]

It's not a popular opinion and it's not something I'd be as interested in as new demos, but I'd get someone like Mark Ronson or Daft Punk to rework one of the Thriller demo's (Hot Street) and put someone like The Weeknd on it.

It would be the best way to secure commercial success for the project, especially if it is true that MJE think every project should be a smash hit & do Xscape numbers at minimum.

Now, as it's an anniversary release, the fan in me, for the fans would do the following:
Disc 1 - Thriller
Disc 2 - Unheard demos/songs that didn't make the cut
Disc 3 - Remixes/LP Edits/Alternate Takes

Netflix would get The Making of Thriller and 'Thriller' in 4K UHD. YouTube would get Thriller, Billie Jean and Beat It remastered in 4K too.

It's difficult because Thriller 50 will be the big celebration, so they can't go 'all out' and it does confuse me as to why they are marking a 40th anniversary, but hey ho.

Could you imagine a daft punk version of behind the mask,

 

[83magic]

it think it would be a great idea for the likes of mark ronson (didn’t he work on the ‘scream’ compilation remix?) to update the demos. I don’t think there needs to be another featured vocalist though. Whitney houston didn’t need one for ‘higher love’.

 

[mjjcn1432]

it think it would be a great idea for the likes of mark ronson (didn’t he work on the ‘scream’ compilation remix?) to update the demos. I don’t think there needs to be another featured vocalist though. Whitney houston didn’t need one for ‘higher love’.

No he didn't work on Scream, but he did a shitty megamix a year after called Diamonds Are Invincible.

 

[AlwaysThere]

The tracklist would be...

Disc 01 - Original Remastered Album
01 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
02 Baby Be Mine
03 The Girl Is Mine
04 Thriller
05 Beat It
06 Billie Jean
07 Human Nature
08 P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
09 The Lady In My Life

Disc 02 - The Making Of Thriller
01 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [Demo]
02 Baby Be Mine [Demo]
03 The Girl Is Mine [Demo]
04 Starlight [Demo]
05 Beat It [Demo]
06 Billie Jean [Demo]
07 Human Nature [Demo]
08 P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) [Demo]
09 The Lady In My Life [Demo]
10 Got The Hots
11 Carousel
12 Hot Street
13 She's Trouble
14 Nite Line
15 The Toy [Demo]
16 Behind The Mask [Demo]

Disc 03 - The Continuation Of Thriller
01 Say Say Say
02 The Man
03 Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (Too Good To Be True)
04 Somebody's Watching Me
05 Be Not Always
06 State Of Shock [Demo]
07 Victory [Demo]
08 Pyramid Girl [Demo]
09 There Must Be More To Life Than This [Demo]
10 Love Never Felt So Good [Demo]
11 Don't Matter To Me [Demo]
12 This Is It [Demo]
13 Scared Of The Moon [Demo]
14 Centipede [Demo]
15 Eaten Alive [Demo]
16 We Are The World [Demo]

Disc 04 - 7" & 12" Single Versions, Vol. 1
01 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [7" Edit]
02 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [7" Instrumental]
03 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [Extended 12" Mix]
04 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [12" Instrumental]
05 The Girl Is Mine [7" Version]
06 Can't Get Outta The Rain
07 Thriller [Radio Edit]
08 Thriller [Special Edit]
09 Thriller [Remixed Short Version]
10 Thriller [Instrumental]
11 Beat It [Single Edit]
12 Beat It [Instrumental]
13 Beat It [12" Extended Mix]

Disc 04 - 7" & 12" Single Versions, Vol. 2
01 Billie Jean [Original LP Version]
02 Billie Jean [Original 12" Version]
03 Billie Jean [12" Instrumental]
04 Human Nature [7" Remix]
05 Human Nature [Instrumental]
06 P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) [Instrumental]
07 The Lady In My Life [Uncut Version]
08 Someone In The Dark [Single Version]
09 Say Say Say [John "Jellybean" Benitez Remix]
10 Say Say Say [John "Jellybean" Benitez Instrumental]
11 Michael Jackson Epic Original 1984 Megamix

Disc 06 - Classic Remixes
01 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [Brothers In Rhythm House Mix]
02 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [Tommy D's Main Mix]
03 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [Johnny Vicious Club Mix]
04 Thriller [Frankie Knuckles & David Morales Remix]
05 Thriller [Danny Tenaglia Mix]
06 Beat It [Moby's Sub Mix]
07 Billie Jean [Four On The Floor Remix]
08 Billie Jean [Tony Moran's Luscious Vocal Mix]
09 Thriller Megamix

Disc 07 - Live At The Victory Tour
01 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
02 Things I Do For You [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
03 Off The Wall [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
04 Human Nature [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
05 This Place Hotel (A.K.A. Heartbreak Hotel) [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
06 She's Out Of My Life [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
07 Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (Too Good To Be True) [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
08 I Want You Back / The Love You Save / I'll Be There [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
09 Rock With You [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
10 Lovely One [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
11 Workin' Day And Night [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
12 Beat It [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
13 Billie Jean [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]
14 Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground) [Live At The Victory Tour 1984]

Plus a DVD of all related music videos and live performances

See, I dunno if I would pay money for this. Discs 4-7 are pretty useless to me. I’ve never understood the fascination with 7” mixes, and I dunno if it’s worth increasing the price to add three discs’ worth. They should be thrown on digital-only editions.

 

[Simijacksonfan]

1. Veröffentliche jetzt eine Single im Streaming mit einem noch nie veröffentlichten Song, auch für Hardcore-Fans 2. Veröffentliche die Bonus-CD auch auf Vinyl, nicht nur das Original, denn Vinyl läuft neben dem Streaming gerade wieder 3. alle Videos vom Thriller in 4K-Qualität remastert 4. Mehr Klamotten mit einem besseren Thriller 40-Logo, weil das aktuelle auf der Klamotten wirklich schrecklich ist und Sie nicht zum Kauf anregt

 

[Piek]

I would embrace the Sonic Fantasy documentary. It's ridiculous The Estate didn't.

 

[Themidwestcowboy]

Reissue “The Girl Is Mine” in mid-October with the solo demo, the songwriting work tape, and a new music video with the unreleased recording studio footage.

4K remasters of all three short films and Making Michael Jackson’s Thriller premiere on Netflix on/around Halloween.

Listening party held at Hayvenhurst.

Hear hear!

 

[xscape guy 2003]

I really do want to hear and see something to say there is a NEW Michael Jackson release single , the new docu sounds good but how will this be released? Will it be ready to go with Thriller 40 release?

 

[xscape guy 2003]

Make Ghosts Thriller and making of all 4k.

 

[Hess]

Ghosts and Thriller in 16:9 and 4K would be the best. - I think they where recorded in widescreen wasn't they? - And then later cropped to 4:3 to home releases and MTV etc.

I really hope it was originally recorded in 16:9 so we can get the full expirience and in 4K.
Would be amaxing.

 

[xscape guy 2003]

Yes, it was amazing going to Leicester Square so many years ago for the London premiere of Ghosts. They(the crowd) didn't even know Michael was up on balcony in disguis of the *Mayor* from Ghosts until he played with us. Plus was fantastic seeing Rhianna and Louise (Rednap) so wide eyed and open mouthed seeing Michael's masterpiece in the best quality (then) with full surround sound.
This is what we need 4k and atmos to display Michael's masterpieces in their full glory.