I can only go by what little information I find online. Around 2018 sum to charities allegedly similar as 2022 at ~240,000.
If anyone finds higher sums mentioned anywhere I'm open to reconsidering my opinion. It seems very dubious.
So it’s not valueless then? I would imagine the interest on hundreds of millions combined with the interest of the already accumulated wealth within the estate (more hundreds of millions) is quite a chunk of change. Essentially it’s money generating money.
Seems a lot of it is generated from the music publishing.
In fact, as of January 2023 the estate had a reported net worth of $1.125 Billion! Money to the extent that they probably no longer require any more money. But to what ends should they have kept this catalog? Invaluable pieces of history, sure. But to do what with?
The assets belong in the trust I believe. Why sell it for short term gain just because everyone else does? People here keep repeating it is wise just because everyone does it and "the market has changed". It seems no beneficiary fully agrees with this and its seems like a quick buck and like a publicity stunt to make the estate look good.
I think MJs legacy and trust is a forerunner and a multi-generational project to benefit much broader interests and not for short term thinking in any way. I deeply question that the executors are in an impartial position to even want to contemplate the future of music industry for generations to come, all the while actually respecting the fans who were so important to Michael.
All beneficiaries should have been given opportunity apart from the estate to get advise from the best in the industry who aren't partial to the case. Perhaps they were
Many artists are fighting hard for their independence from labels, and control over their master recordings is integral to this. That is a long term view to me.
For anything to be done with said catalog a record label would be the obvious way to go.
MJ already had a publishing co and a record label (MJJ Productions, though it may be bound to ¢ony
) and the fact that MJ was creatively tied to big name labels in life seems like a poor reason not to keep music business completely in house as it seems he wished towards the end, with choice deals directly with online distributors like with What More Can I Give project.
Why wouldn’t they hand the catalog rights over to people who have such interests and reap the rewards without having to do the work, and still have a say?
A lot of times in the industry, full creative and intellectual control is much more important than payouts.
The fact that the estate still has a say in what happens while simultaneously earning hundreds of millions of dollars is a no brainer. That’s just good business.
Oh. That's all fine and dandy then
However, if they were any way decent at all, they could easily donate a large portion of their profits to MJ’s chosen charities. On that I’d agree.
Yes. 20% of income. Through the trust, which seems to be neglected all in all.
I'll step back a bit from this discussion as i can't take all the short term thinking here, its a bit depressing and i have other things to focus on. Perhaps more insightful people can comment. As a fan who tries hard to keep a birds eye view and critical concerns and feelings i think there are many more who are very critical to whats going on, who may or may not have patience, energy and rashness to speak up. Or perhaps it doesn't matter or is unwise. Not in my view.
en.wikipedia.org
www.mjffc.org
www.mjvibe.com
