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News from sony!!!! What ive been told at the sony headquarter...

brunomj said:
so first - for the "Michael" cd there will be 2 version: 1 is the normal standart version that will be released on monday 13th, and another cardboard version( like the Number ones version) that is going to be released on 2011 and its less expensive ( i allready seen both).
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d3jr9

You mean this?
 
PCR said:
the nerve of that disgusting little man :angry:
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I read the LA Times article yesterday. It's disturbing to know some of Michael's personal belongings are now in the hand of a man with such questionable motive. I hope the official Estate will prevail in any future legal action against Mann's company.

Also, I'm disppointed that the LA Times would print misleading infomation. The writer of article might not know what "in the red" mean when the writer mentioned the Estate is still "in the red".

In the red means deficit - expenses exceed revenue. This is a simple finance/accounting term. How can the Estate be in the red when it generated hundreds of millions in 2009 and in 2010? In order for the Estate to run a deficit, the Estate's expenses have to be bigger than the revenue, which is quite impossible.

From the balance sheet standpoint, the Estate does have outstanding debts. However, the value of Estate's assets, which include the Sony/ATV catalog, Mijac catalog and various fixed assets, far exceeds its liability. That means the value of the Estate's net assets is positive.

From the cashflow standpoint, the Estate's cash inflows are now bigger than its cash outflows, which means the Estate is solvent.

Many compaines borrow money to obtain capital to acquire assets and meet short-term obligations. This practice is called leverage. I'm confident to say the Estate is in much better financial condition than most companies in the world.

Sorry to be off-topic! But, in case you are worried to see the Estate is "in the red" when reading the article, you can just ignore that part.
 
Thanks for the explanations, Love is Magical.
This media guys... :no:
(and that was not off topic, imo)
 
love is magical said:
I read the LA Times article yesterday. It's disturbing to know some of Michael's personal belongings are now in the hand of a man with such questionable motive. I hope the official Estate will prevail in any future legal action against Mann's company.

Also, I'm disppointed that the LA Times would print misleading infomation. The writer of article might not know what "in the red" mean when the writer mentioned the Estate is still "in the red".

In the red means deficit - expenses exceed revenue. This is a simple finance/accounting term. How can the Estate be in the red when it generated hundreds of millions in 2009 and in 2010? In order for the Estate to run a deficit, the Estate's expenses have to be bigger than the revenue, which is quite impossible.

From the balance sheet standpoint, the Estate does have outstanding debts. However, the value of Estate's assets, which include the Sony/ATV catalog, Mijac catalog and various fixed assets, far exceeds its liability. That means the value of the Estate's net assets is positive.

From the cashflow standpoint, the Estate's cash inflows are now bigger than its cash outflows, which means the Estate is solvent.

Many compaines borrow money to obtain capital to acquire assets and meet short-term obligations. This practice is called leverage. I'm confident to say the Estate is in much better financial condition than most companies in the world.

Sorry to be off-topic! But, in case you are worried to see the Estate is "in the red" when reading the article, you can just ignore that part.
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You know how the media is. Michael has to talked about with always a little negativity attached.

About Mann, I read somewhere that he was asked to return Michael's things, because it was Katherine and not Michael that was part of the suit at the time. Mann took everything which included Michael's things as well, and the judge ordered him to return the items that belonged to Michael. There maybe someone with more information on this.
If this is the case, then, the Estate will be able to deal with Mann.
 
iso_b said:
I find that hard to beleive, "they dont have much more material left"
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Teddy Riley said the same on Twitter. He said there wasn't much recent material, that's why they had the Cascio tracks on there.

However, Sony is different from The Estate .. and other people ;)

Remember Sony didn't have the Cascio songs.. the Cascio's had them.. they sold them to Sony after MJ's passing, for this album. And remember.. Will.I.Am apparently has songs with him & MJ, but he won't release them..
 
Petrarose said:
You know how the media is. Michael has to talked about with always a little negativity attached.

About Mann, I read somewhere that he was asked to return Michael's things, because it was Katherine and not Michael that was part of the suit at the time. Mann took everything which included Michael's things as well, and the judge ordered him to return the items that belonged to Michael. There maybe someone with more information on this.
If this is the case, then, the Estate will be able to deal with Mann.
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I know. It's sad. Many people believe what they read on newspaper like the NYT, the WSJ, the LA Times are accurate. But, so many times, not just on articles about Michael, the information is misleading.

I don't know much about the business deal with Mann. I do hope the Estate has upper hand in any future legal battle.

Gosh... when will the Estate stop involving in any litigation? But, the Estate of Michael Jackson is one of the most significant business in the entertainment industry. It seems every big coporation in America is involved in some kind of litigation somehow.
 
LA Times tends to be biased and inaccurate so I wouldn't put much weight on their article
 
swirly said:
Thanks Smooth, I'd rather hear that than what bruno said.
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well, then you prefer to live in lies and suppositions... for now theres nor project on this... we waited 25 years for this, so you probably will wait a couple of mores, or not...
 
brunomj said:
well, then you prefer to live in lies and suppositions... for now theres nor project on this... we waited 25 years for this, so you probably will wait a couple of mores, or not...
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The bolded, why do you say this? It was stated that Sony has little MJ material. That is correct.

It was further stated my MANY that Sony does not hold the rights to Michael's material, but rather the ESTATE. That is correct.

Therefore, the Estate determines what it wants to do and provide the companies it is dealing with, with Michael's songs. That is why fans are hopeful that more products will come out in the future, because the Estate hold a lot of Michael material, not Sony.
 
love is magical said:
I read the LA Times article yesterday. It's disturbing to know some of Michael's personal belongings are now in the hand of a man with such questionable motive. I hope the official Estate will prevail in any future legal action against Mann's company.

Also, I'm disppointed that the LA Times would print misleading infomation. The writer of article might not know what "in the red" mean when the writer mentioned the Estate is still "in the red".

In the red means deficit - expenses exceed revenue. This is a simple finance/accounting term. How can the Estate be in the red when it generated hundreds of millions in 2009 and in 2010? In order for the Estate to run a deficit, the Estate's expenses have to be bigger than the revenue, which is quite impossible.

From the balance sheet standpoint, the Estate does have outstanding debts. However, the value of Estate's assets, which include the Sony/ATV catalog, Mijac catalog and various fixed assets, far exceeds its liability. That means the value of the Estate's net assets is positive.

From the cashflow standpoint, the Estate's cash inflows are now bigger than its cash outflows, which means the Estate is solvent.

Many compaines borrow money to obtain capital to acquire assets and meet short-term obligations. This practice is called leverage. I'm confident to say the Estate is in much better financial condition than most companies in the world.

Sorry to be off-topic! But, in case you are worried to see the Estate is "in the red" when reading the article, you can just ignore that part.
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how about the taxes -both income and death taxes? as far as we can tell from the estate report the death taxes hasn't been paid. they will be paying income taxes as well. and with an 35-40% rate of taxes on the estate assets (Sony/ATV and MIJAC mainly), the estate can be under a burden of huge tax.
 
^^^But the report does not give details, it just gives a blanket statement. Who was the person who came up with death taxes, anyway. The idea that we should pay the state to compensate for the money we can no longer give it because we are dead, is too much.
 
ivy;3129859 said:
how about the taxes -both income and death taxes? as far as we can tell from the estate report the death taxes hasn't been paid. they will be paying income taxes as well. and with an 35-40% rate of taxes on the estate assets (Sony/ATV and MIJAC mainly), the estate can be under a burden of huge tax.
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Thanks Ivy. I'm no expert in tax law. I screwed up my taxation class in college. I found the following article on cnbc.com. The article mentioned there is a insurance policy that covers part of the estate taxes.

What a difference a year makes.

In June, 2009, Michael Jackson was on the cusp of a comeback tour which might have netted him a new fortune. But he faced a mountain of debt, seemingly unable to get his finances under control. His family's home was about to go into foreclosure, as even their utility bills were reportedly thousands of dollars past due.

We'll never know what kind of fortune Jackson could have generated on tour. His drug-related death--ruled a homicide--put an end to that. Yet one year later, his estate has managed to create in death what Jackson had trouble creating late in life: a series of significant, stable revenue streams. Sources close to the estate say sales of Michael Jackson records, publishing rights, ringtones, movies and merchandise have generated between $250 million and $275 million for the estate in the year since he died. CNBC has learned that debts which once totaled $500 million have been reduced to approximately $400 million, and that figure will soon be lowered to $350 million. The mortgage on the Jackson family home has been paid off.

The estate taxes, however, have yet to be paid.

The beneficiaries of Jackson's estate are his three children, his mother, Katherine, and charitable causes he cared about. The task of managing through the millions of dollars coming in, and the millions yet to be paid out, is being administered by co-executors John Branca, his longtime attorney, and music industry veteran John McClain, who grew up with Jackson and his brothers. Both not only had worked with the King of Pop, but had been close to him for decades.

Getting Jackson’s finances back on track was a priority before he died. "We had seen Michael the week before," Branca has said. When Jackson died, Branca added, "It caught us by surprise," as he and McClain had not only lost a partner, but a friend. Yet as they moved forward with managing the estate, because of that earlier meeting, "We had a game plan."

Sources tell CNBC that "plan" had four goals: generate a lot of short term cash to pay bills, develop long-term projects for regular cash flow, restructure debts, and restore Jackson's image. By any measure, the plan has worked. Two-thirds of the estate's income is coming from outside the United States, and the Jackson estate has surpassed the estate of Elvis Presley in sales.

The biggest payoff in the last year has been $125 million paid upfront by Sony in a $200 million, 10-album deal over the next 7 years. Sources say those albums will include the re-release of Jackson's first hit solo album as an adult, "Off The Wall", complete with outtakes and remixes. There will also be an album of unreleased recordings.

The next biggest revenue-generator has been the $60 million upfront payment--also from Sony — for the film rights to "This Is It". The movie has gone on to become the biggest concert film of all time, grossing $300 million in global box office. The estate will eventually collect back end revenues from the film, plus DVD and soundtrack sales, which could potentially be worth another $20 million to $30 million.



Other income includes $35 million to Mijac Music Publishing, which owns Jackson's songs. However, sources say this money went to pay off a $75 million loan to Jackson from Mijac. The estate also managed to restructure the loan, lowering the interest rate from 16 percent to less than four percent. About $45 million of the loan remains, and it could be completely repaid in 12 to 18 months.

Another $25 million came in from revenues for other projects like books and merchandise, and $11 million came from a valuable song catalog owned jointly with Sony/ATV.

The largest remaining debt is a $300 million loan from Barclays due by the end of the year. A source close to loan negotiations says a restructuring deal should be reached soon.

Then there are the upcoming projects: two shows with Cirque du Soleil--one traveling and one permanently housed in Las Vegas--where the estate is sharing production costs, plus a videogame from Ubisoft.
Other projects are being negotiated.

The executors did take a pass on some ideas. They were approached with a myriad of offers considered inappropriate, like a potentially lucrative gaming tie-in. Crain's New York reported there was a potential book deal based on Jackson's personal writings, but the project was deemed premature.

One item on hold is the future of Neverland, Jackson's rambling estate in Santa Barbara County. Colony Capital owns the note, but if the property is sold, or if the house is moved to, say, Las Vegas, to create a tourist destination, the estate could benefit. However, sources say Neverland remains an emotional topic for the family. (Highlights of Michael Jackson's auction here)

Finally, CNBC has learned that Jackson had an insurance policy to cover some of his estate taxes, but much of that tax will have to be covered by incoming revenues. Sources believe the estate tax return will be filed in the next few months and the taxes will be paid.

Can Michael Jackson's estate match this year's blockbuster performance over the long haul? Unlikely, but several projects are in the works to generate enough significant long-term income so that Jackson's mother and children will never have to worry about money. It worked for Elvis.

© 2010 CNBC, Inc. All Rights Reserved


Back to my previous post, from the cashflow standpoint, the Estate appears to generate enough inflows to cover the outflows. So, the Estate is solvent. From the balance sheet standpoint, even including tax liabilities, the net assets of the Estate will still be a positive figure.

Although I cannot verify the accuracy of the information from cnbc.com, I don't think the Estate is "in the red" for the Estate is not running a deficit.

The following is a good read too.

net estate
The value of an estate's assets less deductions for outstanding debts and funeral and administrative expenses. The federal estate tax is based on the net estate.
What are some methods of reducing a person's net estate so as to limit federal estate taxes?


Depending on its value, an individual's estate may be subject to a federal tax before any distributions are made to the heirs. In 2008 an individual could pass $2,000,000 to anyone estate-tax-free. This figure, sometimes referred to as the “applicable exclusion amount" or “unified credit amount," is scheduled to increase to $3,500,000 in 2009. Once an individual's assets exceed the “applicable exclusion amount," the balance is subject to the estate tax

An individual can reduce the amount subject to the estate tax through deductions, debts, and estate administration expenses. Deductions can be particularly useful in reducing the amount of estate tax owed. Two deductions—the estate tax charitable deduction and the estate tax marital deduction—are unlimited in scope. This means that an individual can give an unlimited amount of assets to a qualified charity or to a surviving spouse with no estate tax consequences. Thus, in 2008 an individual with a hypothetical $10,000,000 estate could give $2,000,000 to his children and the balance to his wife or a charity and pay no estate taxes at all. Assume that our individual was not charitably inclined and had no interest in benefiting any charities at his death. If he passed all of his assets in excess of the “applicable exclusion amount" to his wife, she would inherit $8,000,000 estate-tax-free. When she died, however, she would only be able to pass $2,000,000 to the children estate-tax-free, leaving $6,000,000 subject to the estate tax. Sophisticated estate planning generally involves giving assets away before death in order to reduce the estate taxes payable at death.

Following are four of the methods most commonly used to reduce the amount of someone's net estate:

1. Annual gifting. An individual can give up to $12,000 annually to anyone he or she wishes. If used over time, this technique can reduce a person's net estate by thousands of dollars.

2. Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust. This trust usually benefits an individual's spouse and children after the individual dies. The trust enables the individual to transfer life insurance policies out of his or her name for estate tax purposes.

3. Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT). This trust is used to transfer the ownership of one or more of an individual's residences to a named beneficiary. After a stated number of years, the individual must pay rent to the beneficiary in order to continue to live in the home; however, the value of the home is not included in his or her estate at death.

4. Limited Liability Company/Family Limited Partnership (LLC/FLP). These entities are often used to take advantage of discounting when giving assets away. Instead of receiving some or all of an asset outright, a donee receives an interest in an LLC or FLP. Because such interests are not marketable, they lack controlling interest, and they often represent a minority interest, their value is discounted, or adjusted downward to compensate. Discounts of between 25% and 40% for LLC and FLP interests are not uncommon.

I am sure the Estate is smarter than most of us and engaged the service of tax accoutant/lawyer to handle this matter to minimize the estate taxes liability.​
 
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brunomj said:
well, i won a contest that the 5 fans who win it, we would win a trip to go to the Sony headquarters to listen the album before he went out, and we could ask all the questions we wanted...

so first - for the "Michael" cd there will be 2 version: 1 is the normal standart version that will be released on monday 13th, and another cardboard version( like the Number ones version) that is going to be released on 2011 and its less expensive ( i allready seen both).

Second - I asked if theres still alot of songs to be released in the future, and they said that theres no much more material in the posession of Sony Music, theres some but no much more.

third - i asked if they will release any of Michael Jackson concerts, especially the Bad Tour 1988 in London ( Wembley), and they said no, that there was no way on releasing that, and that they dont have it in their possession, the estate owns all of that, they said what they have is the Dangerous Tour in Bucharest 92, and HIStory Tour Munich 97 on their archives, and maybe in some years they released the dangerous tour bucharest on Bluray... but not new stuff cause they dont have it.

we talked about alot of things, but im not going to write all here, if you have any question, you can ask here, maybe i talked about that and i have the answer for you...
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what do you mean by cardboard version?? is it another greatest hits with one/two singles from MICHAEL or it's MICHAEL added with more songs on it??
 
TheHeroez said:
what do you mean by cardboard version?? is it another greatest hits with one/two singles from MICHAEL or it's MICHAEL added with more songs on it??
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i mean this cardboard version wich is exactly the same as "Michael" album, no more songs or less songs, its the album but just in a cardboard case, to be less expensive.

michaelcdathensgreece.jpg


d3jr9
 
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Well, that's depressing. I don't understand why they don't have Wembley and other tours in their possession. Can anyone shed some light as to why they wouldn't be able to release some other tours, etc.?
 
flutinggnee said:
Well, that's depressing. I don't understand why they don't have Wembley and other tours in their possession. Can anyone shed some light as to why they wouldn't be able to release some other tours, etc.?
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because Sony thinks its not comercealy rentable... but the estate has it and we had proof of it!!!
 
It's funny how SONY say they don't have more material to come, yet we fans have:

All I need
Do you know where your children are
Slave to the rhythm
Blue gangsta
Xscape

and some snippets like Can't get your weight off of me
etc.
 
BUMPER SNIPPET said:
It's funny how SONY say they don't have more material to come, yet we fans have:

All I need
Do you know where your children are
Slave to the rhythm
Blue gangsta
Xscape

and some snippets like Can't get your weight off of me
etc.
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Once again, Sony does not have possession of MJ material, the Estate does. The deal that the Estate signed with Sony only included the distribution rights of MJ material through 2017, not the ownership of the material itself. That is still retained by his Estate.
 
cppounders said:
Once again, Sony does not have possession of MJ material, the Estate does. The deal that the Estate signed with Sony only included the distribution rights of MJ material through 2017, not the ownership of the material itself. That is still retained by his Estate.
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So, they signed 250 million dollars for the distribution of 7 clean tracks and 3 Cascio tracks which raised so much dilemma and on top of that they even do not promote the album properly (as usual) --that's hell of a sum for such a modest project?
 
Im sure i heard there was like 100 unreleased songs left in the vault or somethin like that.....????
 
I think they are playing with you...........

They say there's not much so you can concentrate on buying current releases instead of just waiting for future (better) releases!!!!
 
there are a lot of other songs unrealesed but the Estate has them not Sony...and that's very good...it gives the estate more power!
 
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