Thriller 40th Anniversary

Yeah I was talking about Hot Street, which has leaked in great quality, probably being lower quality when it's eventually released. Didn't mention anything about Starlight or Trouble.
I see no reason for Hot Street being lower quality. There's precedence for good quality releases, Thriller wise, the bad in this case are really outliers. Carousel I chalk up mostly to going back to the very earliest tape instead of the 2001/2008 stuff. Maybe because they lost it.
 
He keep the exact same aaahhhhssss from 88 on the 95 version... WOW!! WE'VE BEEN LISTENING TO 88 VOCALS THIS WHOLE TIME
Do you mean the lead or backing vocals? The lead was most certainly not used on the album version. He re-recorded the song in late 1989 / early 1990, which is why it sounds so similar to the 1988 version, and most of the lead vocals come from that session.

The backing vocals could be the same, but I’m not sure. I think he would have properly re-recorded them in 1989.
 
Do you mean the lead or backing vocals? The lead was most certainly not used on the album version. He re-recorded the song in late 1989 / early 1990, which is why it sounds so similar to the 1988 version, and most of the lead vocals come from that session.

The backing vocals could be the same, but I’m not sure. I think he would have properly re-recorded them in 1989.
Trust me...im 10x ahead/aware of all of this & yes I meant background vocals. The baritone aaahhhsss (2-3rd layer). They are the exact same. Listen to the multitrack bgv & then the 88. I'm just mind blown that they have always been some bad era mixed in on that particular song
 
I have the dolby version downloaded & im no expert but I don't think it's supposed to sound the way it sounds. Alot of elements seem to be missing
The dolby version is actually one of the best dolby mixed projects ive ever heard. Only aspect of this celebration they actually did right.
 
Financially, he’s 100% right. No other estate has overseen the level of success MJ’s has. Hence the “Nearly $3 billion in earnings later” comment.

Artistically… lmfao.
yes because y'all supporting them crappy projects. I'm sorry but that is the true.
 
The main reason to support so hard early on was to help make MJ's kids pockets fatter.

As for their success in the Estate?

It's because Cirque De Soleil and This Is It made a ton of money. It's that simple really.

And the huge outpour of grief/mourning in 2009 helped.

But sure, me streaming Bad 25 on Spotify directly made John Branca rich or whatever. The real fans just stays on this website and birch, birch,birch, and moan.
 
No, he doesn’t lmfao. That’s ridiculous.
His point is somewhat valid. If fans did not support the estate for their lack of projects and/or poor projects they would eventually put out something of quality so they do not loose their cash flow. They know that a ton of mj fans will eat up anything they put out regardless of the quality.
 
MJ has consistently been the highest earning deceased celebrity, and in 2016, was the highest earning artist period (thanks to the ATV Sale) but hasn't been for the last couple of years. The fact of the matter is, just "crappy projects" aren't going to keep revenue flowing and continue when the real money is in streaming content and other things with ongoing support. Music albums, music period, does not accrue much.

Although in reflection, much of their early success no doubt was in the long term genius of holding on to the catalogue...
 
MJ did very well on this list despite the LN-desaster, Covid and no album-releases in the last years. In 2016 he is on 6 because the dead people for him did selling their cataloges or estates and elvis has the biopic this year.

Prince, Freddy, Whitney, Lennon..... are not in the Top Ten

Michael Jackson was #1 for 8 years in the row in the famous Forbes’ Highest-Paid Dead Celebrity.

In 2021, Michael went to #3 due to the Estate not securing major deals and COVID.


COVID is still a repercussion of this year’s position in the list, but also other artists have secured bigger deals. At #1 this year we can see J.R.R. Tolkien who made $500 Million when Swedish video game company Embracer announced its acquisition of Middle Earth Enterprises in August for $788 million. Following close behind is basketball legend Kobe Bryant with $400 million from his estate’s sale of his stake in the BodyArmor sports drink company to Coca-Cola. It marks the largest acquisition in the soft drink firm’s history. At #3, David Bowie Estate made $250 Million with the sale of his publishing catalogue. Elvis is at #4 majorly from his Estate deals for shows, merchandise and of course the biopic. James Brown is at #5 due to the acquisition of his music rights by a New York-based independent music publisher.

And yes, Michael Jackson lost 3 spots to be at #6 for 2022. MJ ONE was closed for so long due to COVID, the lack of Merchandise’s sale and Estate’s deals made in the last 2 years has a repercussion in the profits and therefore the position in this list. However, 2023 might be different as MJ ONE in Las Vegas re-opened, MJ The Musical is doing really well with $80 million growth by November and also it is about to tour the US in August 2023. Not to mention Thriller 40 is about to come out and the sales of this new Estate Project will put back some cash in the bank with albums and merchandise sales.

  1. J.R.R. Tolkien with $500 Million
  2. Kobe Bryant with $400 Million
  3. David Bowie with $250 Million
  4. Elvis Presley with $110 Million
  5. James Brown with $100 Million
  6. Michael Jackson with $75 Million
  7. Leonard Cohen with $55 Million
  8. Dr Seuss with $32 Million
  9. Jeff Porcaro with $25 Million
  10. Charles Schulz with $24 Million
SOURCE: Forbes
 
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MJ has consistently been the highest earning deceased celebrity, and in 2016, was the highest earning artist period (thanks to the ATV Sale) but hasn't been for the last couple of years. The fact of the matter is, just "crappy projects" aren't going to keep revenue flowing and continue when the real money is in streaming content and other things with ongoing support. Music albums, music period, does not accrue much.

Although in reflection, much of their early success no doubt was in the long term genius of holding on to the catalogue...
He wasn't this year actually the streak fell off
 
His point is somewhat valid. If fans did not support the estate for their lack of projects and/or poor projects they would eventually put out something of quality so they do not loose their cash flow. They know that a ton of mj fans will eat up anything they put out regardless of the quality.
The estate has released no less than a dozen projects since MJ’s death. Of those, I can name 4 that attained widespread commercial success (This Is It, Michael, XSCAPE, and T40). Everything else performed moderately to poorly. And even the high-selling projects haven’t been immune from extensive fan criticism and outcry.

The estate’s poor-quality projects are their fault and their fault alone. Blaming the fans is a pathetic cop-out.
 
The estate has released no less than a dozen projects since MJ’s death. Of those, I can name 4 that attained widespread commercial success (This Is It, Michael, XSCAPE, and T40). Everything else performed moderately to poorly. And even the high-selling projects haven’t been immune from extensive fan criticism and outcry.

The estate’s poor-quality projects are their fault and their fault alone. Blaming the fans is a pathetic cop-out.
No I think you’re misunderstanding what I meant haha. What I meant was, fans are somewhat encouraging their behavior of delivering subpar projects by supporting them. If their lazy projects all had terrible sales and their revenue over all is low they would surely attempt to do something about it.
 
No I think you’re misunderstanding what I meant haha. What I meant was, fans are somewhat encouraging their behavior of delivering subpar projects by supporting them. If their lazy projects all had terrible sales and their revenue over all is low they would surely attempt to do something about it.
Their revenue is quite low, lower than they'd like. They haven't gotten a #1 yet. The products that are actually good deserve it. They made a few good products: This Is It, Cirque De Soleil, and the Musical. It's just the albums that people nitpick so hard.
 
Bro, the main point here is streaming services. Get every single MJ listener on the planet to go back to CDs or local files and you're good.
MJ got 8 billion plays in 2018 iirc and that's revenue the Estate don't control or has any input on.
Good luck trying to convince gen z to listen to mp3/flac files locally.
 
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No I think you’re misunderstanding what I meant haha. What I meant was, fans are somewhat encouraging their behavior of delivering subpar projects by supporting them. If their lazy projects all had terrible sales and their revenue over all is low they would surely attempt to do something about it.
This concept of supporting the Estate is complete nonsense, in my opinion. When I am listening to Thriller 40, for example, I am not supporting the Estate, at least in my mind. I am simply listening to new music from my favourite artist. I am fulfilling my own personal satisfaction. I am not listening to Thriller 40, thinking that I am making John Branca rich. That thought doesn't even cross my mind. I don't think that fans need to make other fans feel guilty for wanting to listen to new Michael Jackson material or going to MJ Musicals.
 
This concept of supporting the Estate is complete nonsense, in my opinion. When I am listening to Thriller 40, for example, I am not supporting the Estate, at least in my mind. I am simply listening to new music from my favourite artist. I am fulfilling my own personal satisfaction. I am not listening to Thriller 40, thinking that I am making John Branca rich. That thought doesn't even cross my mind. I don't think that fans need to make other fans feel guilty for wanting to listen to new Michael Jackson material or going to MJ Musicals.
Precisely this.
 
This concept of supporting the Estate is complete nonsense, in my opinion. When I am listening to Thriller 40, for example, I am not supporting the Estate, at least in my mind. I am simply listening to new music from my favourite artist. I am fulfilling my own personal satisfaction. I am not listening to Thriller 40, thinking that I am making John Branca rich. That thought doesn't even cross my mind. I don't think that fans need to make other fans feel guilty for wanting to listen to new Michael Jackson material or going to MJ Musicals.

no nonsense at all..
It's same with TV shows... if a tv-show is not watched by enough people it will be canceled.
If not enough people buy a certain release the next release will be different.
 
It's a hidden track. Early demo of BTM🤭
Homegirl is the demo of behind the mask. You can have this if you order the album on the Ugandese market in Wakanda, it is one of the earliest versions of the thriller album back then still called starlight. Pretty rare. My friend told me all of this, it is true.
Source / any more info? I can't find any information about this track, is it even real?
 
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