Why does the estate keep many excellent songs unreleased while releasing other songs that appear to be of lower quality to us?

[SOULsation]

I was inspired by a reply on the forum just now and thought of this question: In our opinion, there are so many MJ unreleased songs that are completed and excellent and worth releasing, such as Hot Street, which we believe deserves to be included in Thriller40, but it has not been released. Therefore, will the estate keep these outstanding songs and release them as a big project in the future?

 

[@mjfanatic777]

what language is this written in?

 

[SOULsation]

what language is this written in?

Sorry, there was an editing mistake earlier. I have made the necessary changes.

 

[@mjfanatic777]

never mind it's in English now thanks))))))

 

[@mjfanatic777]

Sorry, there was an editing mistake earlier. I have made the necessary changes.

it's ok thank you though!

 

[@mjfanatic777]

I was inspired by a reply on the forum just now and thought of this question: In our opinion, there are so many MJ unreleased songs that are completed and excellent and worth releasing, such as Hot Street, which we believe deserves to be included in Thriller40, but it has not been released. Therefore, will the estate keep these outstanding songs and release them as a big project in the future?

hopefully they will something like that

 

[SOULsation]

hopefully they will something like that

yes，hope so

 

[@mjfanatic777]

wanna be friends?

 

[SOULsation]

Of course, it's my pleasure.

 

[@mjfanatic777]

great! though it would be easier if you wrote in English))))

 

[SOULsation]

Lol, due to the settings on my phone for my country, it automatically changes to Chinese and I constantly need to change it back.

 

[@mjfanatic777]

Lol, due to the settings on my phone for my country, it automatically changes to Chinese and I constantly need to change it back.

ohhh it's ok

 

[Alaslam]

They use the songs MJ solely wrote and produced so they don’t have to credit other writers and producers

 

[@mjfanatic777]

They use the songs MJ solely wrote and produced so they don’t have to credit other writers and producers

ohhhhhhhhhh why can't they credit others?

 

[Alaslam]

ohhhhhhhhhh why can't they credit others?

They just don’t want to pay others really

 

[ChanceToDance]

ohhhhhhhhhh why can't they credit others?

It's mostly due to the Estate having no agreement with Rod Temperton's estate and Quincy Jones so they can't release their songs without their consent. There was an article around the time T40 came out that mentioned a dozen of outtakes produced by Quincy but they can't be release because he's at odds with the Estate. Same for the Will.i.am/RedOne tracks from the 2000's, they can't be released without their permission.

 

[ChanceToDance]

Here's the article, hopefully this answers the thread:

"Thriller" a 40 ans: d'où viennent les inédits de Michael Jackson présents sur la réédition?

Thriller, album mythique de Michael Jackson, paru il y a quarante ans, ressort dans une version enrichie de morceaux inédits.

www-bfmtv-com.translate.goog

"...Yes, assures Laurent Hopman, there are still many unpublished works by Michael Jackson. Some, like Hot Street, and Night Line, have already leaked, but in poor quality. “There are a dozen or so titles, recorded during this period, which we know of and which are sufficiently accomplished to be interesting. But these titles, produced by Quincy Jones, will not be released as long as the famous producer is at odds with the singer's estate."


"The estate did a musical show in Las Vegas, 'Michael Jackson One,' using recordings of music produced by Quincy Jones, but they remixed it, partly to avoid having to pay royalties." The dispute even went to trial, with the producer claiming millions of dollars from Michael Jackson's estate.

 

[Hollywood_Tonight]

There’s not much material left in the vault unfortunately. If the estate just releases songs that have already leaked, fans would be upset. But the reality is, most of the complete/ releasable material has already leaked. Get Your Weight Off of Me, What You Do To Me, and Buffalo Bill are the only confirmed releasable songs (meaning a full vocal take) that haven’t leaked. Songs with partial vocals like Boy No and Hot Fun In the Summertime are likely only going to be released if another artist is featured.

 

[BlackAnon]

Michael wasn't a studio rat and he wasn't churning out songs daily like we would think.....a lot of his unreleased music is incomplete because he would end up working on another song.....the most complete and unreleased music would be from his J5/Jacksons days and not so much his later years.....he collaborated with people as well and those are the people that are holding on to his more finished material and even if the Estate has the songs, they can't release anything without permission from the co-writer(s)

 

[SMJJ777]

Dark Lady from 2008 has a full vocal take, but the verses are scratch vocals

 

[ChanceToDance]

The vault has hundreds and hundreds of songs, most of them are instrumentals or songs with only a chorus but I do believe that out of those hundreds there's still plenty of songs remaining. There are so many titles we have no info on, Who Do You Know for example was a title people had no info on for over 40 years but now we see that it's a song will full vocals. Not only that but the Estate was willing to let go of the song for T40 of all projects, along with a song that they had already considered for another album (WALWTG) so it means that the vault isn't as empty as we think. And that's not mentioning the songs we keep learning about like Dream Away and the 13 other titles in the last few months only.

Sure, from HIStory era and after the vault is scarse, but it's very likely that there's a lot of songs remaining from the 80's-early 90's, seeing how most of the Estate's releases comes from that time and they were MJ's most productive era.

 

[AlwaysThere]

It’s luck of the draw. Of course some songs get sidelined because of agreements with the songwriters or producers, but most often songs get canned because they weren’t right for the project or it just wasn’t their time. It’s no different than when MJ himself was prepping an album and had to pick and choose material.

There’s not much material left in the vault unfortunately. If the estate just releases songs that have already leaked, fans would be upset. But the reality is, most of the complete/ releasable material has already leaked. Get Your Weight Off of Me, What You Do To Me, and Buffalo Bill are the only confirmed releasable songs (meaning a full vocal take) that haven’t leaked. Songs with partial vocals like Boy No and Hot Fun In the Summertime are likely only going to be released if another artist is featured.

None of this is true. We have no idea what the state of the vault is because the only people with complete, unfiltered knowledge are… less than reliable. 13 years after MJ’s death, we’re still learning about new titles (“Dream Away,” “Garbage,” “The Choice”). There are over 110 titles that we have absolutely no info on. Two of the three songs you named aren’t confirmed to have complete vocals; both sources who commented publicly were unsure. And the estate has made it abundantly clear that they have no issue forcing previously released and leaked material at us.

 

[@mjfanatic777]

It's mostly due to the Estate having no agreement with Rod Temperton's estate and Quincy Jones so they can't release their songs without their consent. There was an article around the time T40 came out that mentioned a dozen of outtakes produced by Quincy but they can't be release because he's at odds with the Estate. Same for the Will.i.am/RedOne tracks from the 2000's, they can't be released without their permission.

ohhhhhh for the 2000's why can't they get their permission? sorry I ask a lot of questions

 

[SmoothGangsta]

As others have said there's plenty of songs we only know the name of and that's it. I'd say there's plenty of material left, I think it's more likely to be totally unfinished than not, but I'm still anxious to hear it all.

 

[ChanceToDance]

ohhhhhh for the 2000's why can't they get their permission? sorry I ask a lot of questions

No worries, I'm always happy to answer!

Anyway,

-With Will.i.am he contradicts himself all the time, first he says he won't release the songs because he feels he can't release them without MJ's input. Then he says he won't release them unless Katherine says so. Then he tries to release one of the songs on one of his albums but the Estate didn't give him permission. Now he's back to saying he will never release the songs no matter what.

-With RedOne he won't let the Estate release his songs unless the profits goes to charity.

-With the songs made in Bahrain is because the founder of the 2 Sea Records won't release them out of respect for MJ's legacy.

So in the end we're only left with the songs made with Brad Buxer, Michael Prince and Neff-U, but unfortunately 99% of it is unfinished. So in the Estate's eyes there almost isn't anything remaining from that time.

 

[Nite Line]

The problem is that because Michael was so disorganised when it comes to keeping all of his unreleased music in one place, no one knows for certain just how much unreleased music is available for release.

 

[wonderouzmj]

-With Will.i.am he contradicts himself all the time, first he says he won't release the songs because he feels he can't release them without MJ's input. Then he says he won't release them unless Katherine says so. Then he tries to release one of the songs on one of his albums but the Estate didn't give him permission. Now he's back to saying he will never release the songs no matter what.

What in thee actual fck!?

 

[Hollywood_Tonight]

It’s luck of the draw. Of course some songs get sidelined because of agreements with the songwriters or producers, but most often songs get canned because they weren’t right for the project or it just wasn’t their time. It’s no different than when MJ himself was prepping an album and had to pick and choose material.

None of this is true. We have no idea what the state of the vault is because the only people with complete, unfiltered knowledge are… less than reliable. 13 years after MJ’s death, we’re still learning about new titles (“Dream Away,” “Garbage,” “The Choice”). There are over 110 titles that we have absolutely no info on. Two of the three songs you named aren’t confirmed to have complete vocals; both sources who commented publicly were unsure. And the estate has made it abundantly clear that they have no issue forcing previously released and leaked material at us.

Damien has said multiple times “What You Do To Me” is complete enough for release, and it was considered for Bad 25- he also posted some of the lyrics he heard on his Twitter. “Weight” has been confirmed to have full vocals by multiple sources. Also, ”The Choice”, “Homeless Bound”, “Garbage”, “Janet/MJ Duet” are instrumentals with no vocals (technically, Homeless has audio clips in it but not from MJ). As far as I’m aware- didn’t Michael say in an interview that he recorded Buffalo Bill right after Billie Jean was finished?

 

[Hollywood_Tonight]

No worries, I'm always happy to answer!

Anyway,

-With Will.i.am he contradicts himself all the time, first he says he won't release the songs because he feels he can't release them without MJ's input. Then he says he won't release them unless Katherine says so. Then he tries to release one of the songs on one of his albums but the Estate didn't give him permission. Now he's back to saying he will never release the songs no matter what.

-With RedOne he won't let the Estate release his songs unless the profits goes to charity.

-With the songs made in Bahrain is because the founder of the 2 Sea Records won't release them out of respect for MJ's legacy.

So in the end we're only left with the songs made with Brad Buxer, Michael Prince and Neff-U, but unfortunately 99% of it is unfinished. So in the Estate's eyes there almost isn't anything remaining from that time.

Will.i.am’s most finished song with MJ, I’m Dreamin’ is a cover of this song with different lyrics:

 

[ChanceToDance]

Will.i.am’s most finished song with MJ, I’m Dreamin’ is a cover of this song with different lyrics:

Going by interviews Will.i.am said they finished recording at least 2 songs together which is The Future and I'm Dreamin'.

Also, ”The Choice”, “Homeless Bound”, “Garbage”, “Janet/MJ Duet” are instrumentals with no vocals (technically, Homeless has audio clips in it but not from MJ). As far as I’m aware-

What's the source of those?