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re-releasing songs on compilation albums actually work

filmandmusic

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I was on Spotify listening to some MJ tracks when I stumbled upon the compilation album "scream". Immediately I saw "heartbreak hotel" having 28+ million spins
I checked to see how many listeners the other "Triumph" songs got and it pretty much negligible. 5 of its 9 songs have under 1 millions spins. Not a single track on a Michael Jackson released album has less spins (they mostly are at minimum about 4 million). In fact "heartbreak hotel" was the most popular song on "Triumph" with its 28 million spins, surpassing can you feel it easily (18 million).

I attribute this to the song finally being released as a Michael Jackson track on a Michael Jackson album and not on the (unjustly) forgotten The Jacksons's album "Triumph".
Same story for "torture" which by now has 20 million listens by far surpassing the other MJ (on vocals) tracks on Victory (be not always a poor 300 000 spins, state of shock 4 million).

Both those tracks were hits back in the day but not on a global scale and they didn't become trademark MJ tunes so to see them lock up 20+ million total spins 40 odd years after they were first released is quite interesting.

Simply put, it is possible to breath life into old tracks. If we're not gonna get new tracks then for the next compilation album please continue to put other forgotten songs into the limelight.
 
Astute observation and I wholeheartedly agree with your premise. Re-releasing songs on such "concept" compilation albums as "Scream" allows new fans to discover songs they've never heard before and gives innovators on Tik Tok and so forth, additional material to work with. It's great to see these excellent songs receiving the LOVE they richly deserve. Well....not Torture, IMO, but definitely Heartbreak Hotel. :)
 
Compilation and greatest hits albums are a great way to introduce an artist's music to non fans or casual fans. Another example of this is Break of Dawn, which was released on Number Ones. It has 11 million streams on Spotify, which is more than every other song from Invincible besides You Rock My World, Butterflies & Unbreakable. The first two were singles and the latter one features Biggie Smalls.
 
It also improved for example Dirty Diana's spins big time as it was under 100 million spins before scream got released from what I remember.
Apparently people are living in the now and not in the past, past releases just don't get as much attention, not even when they're just a few clicks or scrolls away on the same Spotify page.
Just look at the amount of spins the Exscape and Michael albums got compared to the invincible tracks. There is a noticeable difference.

Something else now: just an idea for the Estate people, release recording sessions, demo's, alternate versions of already released songs. Not just remixes but make a project on how certain songs grew from an idea to a rough cut to a fully fleshed out song.
Give in to me is a perfect example. It came out of a jam session, then we got a first draft lets say when slash wasn't yet onboard.
Give us a view in the minds of the geniuses that were working on those tracks. So instead of celebrating an anniversary of a full album, why not an anniversary of a single song?
Sounds like an idea to me anyway...
 
filmandmusic said:
It also improved for example Dirty Diana's spins big time as it was under 100 million spins before scream got released from what I remember.
Apparently people are living in the now and not in the past, past releases just don't get as much attention, not even when they're just a few clicks or scrolls away on the same Spotify page.
Just look at the amount of spins the Exscape and Michael albums got compared to the invincible tracks. There is a noticeable difference.

Something else now: just an idea for the Estate people, release recording sessions, demo's, alternate versions of already released songs. Not just remixes but make a project on how certain songs grew from an idea to a rough cut to a fully fleshed out song.
Give in to me is a perfect example. It came out of a jam session, then we got a first draft lets say when slash wasn't yet onboard.
Give us a view in the minds of the geniuses that were working on those tracks. So instead of celebrating an anniversary of a full album, why not an anniversary of a single song?
Sounds like an idea to me anyway...
Click to expand...
It's a good idea! I would love "single song" projects like this. They could be spaced out throughout an entire year - one every few months or so. Brad Sundberg would be a wonderful resource for the Estate to tap into, regarding this. He often tells stories about how songs came to be. He would probably have the tapes as well.
 
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filmandmusic said:
It also improved for example Dirty Diana's spins big time as it was under 100 million spins before scream got released from what I remember.
Apparently people are living in the now and not in the past, past releases just don't get as much attention, not even when they're just a few clicks or scrolls away on the same Spotify page.
Just look at the amount of spins the Exscape and Michael albums got compared to the invincible tracks. There is a noticeable difference.

Something else now: just an idea for the Estate people, release recording sessions, demo's, alternate versions of already released songs. Not just remixes but make a project on how certain songs grew from an idea to a rough cut to a fully fleshed out song.
Give in to me is a perfect example. It came out of a jam session, then we got a first draft lets say when slash wasn't yet onboard.
Give us a view in the minds of the geniuses that were working on those tracks. So instead of celebrating an anniversary of a full album, why not an anniversary of a single song?
Sounds like an idea to me anyway...
Click to expand...
That does sound like a good idea.

Like, I would personally focus each on just a single song (as you suggested) and then starting from from the earliest idea, or version, on up. There is a high chance that for most of the songs that's been released, there are several versions and mixes not even released, so I would include the more significant versions of the process. I would also include studio chat and banter, and even portions of MJ and everyone else trying out different ideas for the song.

There would even be a booklet that details the history and story behind the song, including anecdotes and stories from around that period. Maybe even what gear was used to produce the song. Of course, I would include the dates when certain versions were recorded, provided there is a reliable source (like track sheets and session calendars).
 
@Mikky Dee , @MikeFann
The more I think of it and the comments you guys made really make it sound like it could actually work, it is a rather original idea andI don't think has been done before by anyone else.
Ok so who is going to pitch the idea to the Estate? I learned @Gaz knows the high suits so he should pitch it :p
We can accept there is no new material anymore but at least give us something, we crave it!
 
filmandmusic said:
@Mikky Dee , @MikeFann
The more I think of it and the comments you guys made really make it sound like it could actually work, it is a rather original idea andI don't think has been done before by anyone else.
Ok so who is going to pitch the idea to the Estate? I learned @Gaz knows the high suits so he should pitch it :p
We can accept there is no new material anymore but at least give us something, we crave it!
Click to expand...
Honestly, if such a release did exist, I would be honestly be content...as long as they started with BAD. :) Just imagine finally hearing the Pee demo!
 
filmandmusic said:
@Mikky Dee , @MikeFann
The more I think of it and the comments you guys made really make it sound like it could actually work, it is a rather original idea andI don't think has been done before by anyone else.
Ok so who is going to pitch the idea to the Estate? I learned @Gaz knows the high suits so he should pitch it :p
We can accept there is no new material anymore but at least give us something, we crave it!
Click to expand...
?
 
filmandmusic said:
It also improved for example Dirty Diana's spins big time as it was under 100 million spins before scream got released from what I remember.
Apparently people are living in the now and not in the past, past releases just don't get as much attention, not even when they're just a few clicks or scrolls away on the same Spotify page.
Just look at the amount of spins the Exscape and Michael albums got compared to the invincible tracks. There is a noticeable difference.

Something else now: just an idea for the Estate people, release recording sessions, demo's, alternate versions of already released songs. Not just remixes but make a project on how certain songs grew from an idea to a rough cut to a fully fleshed out song.
Give in to me is a perfect example. It came out of a jam session, then we got a first draft lets say when slash wasn't yet onboard.
Give us a view in the minds of the geniuses that were working on those tracks. So instead of celebrating an anniversary of a full album, why not an anniversary of a single song?
Sounds like an idea to me anyway...
Click to expand...
I’ve been thinking this for years!!! They could do sooo much with it. Demos, alternate takes, extended mixes, a capellas and the instrumentals. Visual/Audio podcast. Break down the multitracks. Have some session guys talk about the tracks. Refresh their memory on the songs. For instance they could do all the songs from Thriller. Then on Thrillers actual release date release a super super deluxe project with unreleased songs (The Toy, Behind The Mask, Hot Street, Niteline etc). Release an opus book from the whole era include Victory, hand written notes, in the studio photos, photo shoots, behind the scenes of The Girl Is Mine, Billie Jean, Beat It and Thriller. The ET Story Book, Motown 25, Walk Of Fame!!! (Snaps back to reality)
Sorry for the rank back on topic

But yes I agree with you @Mikky Dee singles project would be amazing.
 
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