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Thriller 40th Anniversary

Themidwestcowboy said:
Guys I have a serious question to ask. Who is this release for? Iā€™m not being facetious, Iā€™m serious. The way they have ā€œpromotedā€ and talked about this release, (especially during the early phase of this project) the impression I got was that they were trying to cater to the general audience by first and foremost putting out something that MJ is most recognized for and the general audience also recognize and love. Fair enough. So my question for this approach is how will the general audience even be privy to this when there has been no marketing, no push, nothing to incite the general audience or even put this on their radars. Minimal ads, no guĆ©rilla marketing, nothing.

So okay, letā€™s go with the approach that this was made for the hardcore fanbase (as is the case with most anniversary releases anyways). So for this approach you actually need to give the hardcore fan base what they want and not re-sell old songs and trying to change the details about when songs was conceived and their initial purpose to try and fit a narrative. You donā€™t also do whatever the hell they were doing with the immersive event. You also donā€™t block fans on social media for expressing dissenting opinions.

So my question is, who is this really for? It seems to me that in their ā€œeffortā€ to please everybody they alienated a big part of both parties. Itā€™s just mind boggling how this has been handled.
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Seen from a marketing perspective, I do not see this as a broad-audience project at all, as there was not much marketing budget invested. I think Thriller40 targets the MJ fanbase, while they thought we would be happy of having CGTOR. To be honest a 9-track release without that song would have been a well-done project imo. And even by including this non-needed track, the project evolved greatly. MJ 4k on top. At least I care. Non-MJ fans do not.

Thriller40 -> Fanbase
Next MJ Album in 2-3 yrs -> Broad Audience (Target Group: Gen Z)
 
It seems to me theyā€™re just a bit afraid of a media backlash after LN. It is not easy to promote something en masse when MJ is connected to pedophilia, especially in the metoo era.
I have said it before but it is a miracle we are getting something in the first place, he could have easily been cancelled by nowā€¦

We have been crying out for something new for a long time and we finally get something. T40 anniversary happens to be now and it was a good opportunity to test the current waters. They were never going to risk promoting a ā€œnewā€ album without knowing if the appetite is there.
Thriller is easier to sell, it is a culturally relevant album, even his biggest adversaries canā€™t really claim otherwise. Does it need very expensive marketing? Probably not, critics will pick it up and write about it, people will talk about it especially when accompanied by the 4K videos it is bound to get some attention.
I think they will make a profit with this release and at the same time it gauges critical and commercial response for future projects.

If the media stays civil with T40 then I wouldnā€™t be surprised if releases in the future get bigger marketing. If the media goes full on attack and revives the pedophilia scandals we might not get anything anymore and even the biopic will get cancelled. But I guess many fans would like to see that happen, the fans behind the biopic are in an absolute minority.
 
One cannot say that there is no marketing, no push, nothing to incite the general audience or even put this release on their radars.

Here are some important marketing/promotional moves for the 'Thriller 40' anniversary album:

- the flash mob in Times Square (New York City), where the general audience were treated to a full routine by dancers in zombie costume and outfits performing to Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' song (John Branca was also there and he happily posed with the dancers for photos)

- the massive LED screens on the Nasdaq Stock Market building, where the cover of the 'Thriller 40' album was projected

- the official announcement of the upcoming 'Thriller' documentary (via various media outlets) that refers also the 'Thriller 40' album

- fan events/fan parties around the world, hosted by the Estate and Sony Music, that the general audience have free access to them in order to participate in immersive experiences, screenings of the 'Thriller 40' documentary and so on

- special 'Thriller'-themed parties around the world in which the general audience have the opportunity to hear the full 'Thriller 40' album for the first time

Note that the 'michaeljackson.com' official website reference accompanies all those events in order for the general audience to get more information and details about that 'Thriller 40' album release.

The 'Thriller 40' album promotion also takes place in an indirect way (for example, by word of mouth).
 
filmandmusic said:
It seems to me theyā€™re just a bit afraid of a media backlash after LN. It is not easy to promote something en masse when MJ is connected to pedophilia, especially in the metoo era.
I have said it before but it is a miracle we are getting something in the first place, he could have easily been cancelled by nowā€¦

We have been crying out for something new for a long time and we finally get something. T40 anniversary happens to be now and it was a good opportunity to test the current waters. They were never going to risk promoting a ā€œnewā€ album without knowing if the appetite is there.
Thriller is easier to sell, it is a culturally relevant album, even his biggest adversaries canā€™t really claim otherwise. Does it need very expensive marketing? Probably not, critics will pick it up and write about it, people will talk about it especially when accompanied by the 4K videos it is bound to get some attention.
I think they will make a profit with this release and at the same time it gauges critical and commercial response for future projects.

If the media stays civil with T40 then I wouldnā€™t be surprised if releases in the future get bigger marketing. If the media goes full on attack and revives the pedophilia scandals we might not get anything anymore and even the biopic will get cancelled. But I guess many fans would like to see that happen, the fans behind the biopic are in an absolute minority.
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Honestly it's been kinda obvious that they only care about his 80s material for a long time now. Even before LN. I wasn't surprised that the next release was Thriller based as that's all they are interested in because they know it will sell anyway. The next anniversary release will likely be Thriller again, as well.
 
Great Post @Themidwestcowboy mate insightful as always. I agree completely

Hopefully the short films are done correctly and they make a big deal about them being released in 4K for the first time and they can piggyback Thriller 40 onto the 4K releases
 
SmoothCriminal1995 said:
Great Post @Themidwestcowboy mate insightful as always. I agree completely

Hopefully the short films are done correctly and they make a big deal about them being released in 4K for the first time and they can piggyback Thriller 40 onto the 4K releases
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I'm super excited about this. I hope we get confirmation that Billie Jean has been restored to HD as well.
 
I don't think anyone mentioned it here, but since they decided to use the full frame for Beat It (with the original aspect ratio), do you guys think they'll do the same for Thriller rather than using the 16:9 version from 2017?
 
MJbr2 said:
I don't think anyone mentioned it here, but since they decided to use the full frame for Beat It (with the original aspect ratio), do you guys think they'll do the same for Thriller rather than using the 16:9 version from 2017?
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I do hope so mate
 
I may be totally making this up (someone correct me if so, lol) but wasn't thriller filmed with 16:9 in mind? I seem to recall discussion about that at some point when people were complaining about it being cropped in 2017.
 
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SmoothCriminal1995 said:
Great Post @Themidwestcowboy mate insightful as always. I agree completely

Hopefully the short films are done correctly and they make a big deal about them being released in 4K for the first time and they can piggyback Thriller 40 onto the 4K releases
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A reissue of Vision in 4k would be superb - Imagine all those short films remastered
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
The biggest improvement is the color calibration. It's actually accurate, no more oversaturation from being worn out.

Compared to this, pretty excellent fan articulation, no doubt the quality as well will be much crisper.

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what a horrible quality. Destroying the footage. Looks like watching a Cartoon.
 
MJbr2 said:
I don't think anyone mentioned it here, but since they decided to use the full frame for Beat It (with the original aspect ratio), do you guys think they'll do the same for Thriller rather than using the 16:9 version from 2017?
Click to expand...
Thriller was shown in movie theaters in 1983 so widescreen could be considered the original aspect ratio.
 
filmandmusic said:
It seems to me theyā€™re just a bit afraid of a media backlash after LN. It is not easy to promote something en masse when MJ is connected to pedophilia, especially in the metoo era.
I have said it before but it is a miracle we are getting something in the first place, he could have easily been cancelled by nowā€¦

We have been crying out for something new for a long time and we finally get something. T40 anniversary happens to be now and it was a good opportunity to test the current waters. They were never going to risk promoting a ā€œnewā€ album without knowing if the appetite is there.
Thriller is easier to sell, it is a culturally relevant album, even his biggest adversaries canā€™t really claim otherwise. Does it need very expensive marketing? Probably not, critics will pick it up and write about it, people will talk about it especially when accompanied by the 4K videos it is bound to get some attention.
I think they will make a profit with this release and at the same time it gauges critical and commercial response for future projects.

If the media stays civil with T40 then I wouldnā€™t be surprised if releases in the future get bigger marketing. If the media goes full on attack and revives the pedophilia scandals we might not get anything anymore and even the biopic will get cancelled. But I guess many fans would like to see that happen, the fans behind the biopic are in an absolute minority.
Click to expand...
The biopic will not be canceled. How long have you been a fan? Every MJ release, even when he was alive, was criticized and he was attacked for everything from the accusations to his appearance to his sexual orientation. This will be no different. There will be articles that will push that angle. That is no valid reason for not promoting a product. That would be like Michael not promoting the HIStory project and keeping it under the radar. Every business move is the same. You put out a project and want a return on the investment. I would hate for the wrong lesson to be learned here if this doesnā€™t do well.
 
The absence of Thriller40 on HDtracks makes me believe there'll be also a 24/96 version, that's to be announced very soon. Hopefully it'll be not compressed to death.
 
Have there been any other events yet? Anyone reported about them if so? I'm not really sure if it was just the one or not but I guess they were all the exact same thing if so?
 
I'm relieved. 7 days prior to the release of Thriller 40 there's some kind of promotion on the official sm accounts.

Now someone please tell the kid it that the promoted product has to be T40 and not Casio keyboards.

www.instagram.com

Michael Jackson on Instagram: "Electronics maker Casio teamed up with Michael Jackson in the 1980s to promote portable keyboards. Several Casio keyboard models featured Michaelā€™s image on the box and included a song book so fans could learn to play ā€œ

Michael Jackson shared a post on Instagram: "Electronics maker Casio teamed up with Michael Jackson in the 1980s to promote portable keyboards. Several Casio keyboard models featured Michaelā€™s image on the box and included a song book so fans could learn to play ā€œBadā€, ā€œThe Way You Make Me...
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
 
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