Remember back in the day when it seemed like Michael Jackson was breaking some kind of record every time his name came up in the news? (well, every time his name didn’t come up in reference to something weird, I mean). Well, even 9 months after his passing, Michael is still breaking records. First, he took ownership on Billboard’s pop catalog chart the week after his death, scoring 9 of the top ten albums. THEN his “Number Ones” became the first catalog album to sell more than the week’s current #1 album. THEN he set the record for most American Music Awards won by a single performer. THEN “This is It” became the highest-grossing concert film of all time.
Now, Michael’s estate has just signed a deal with Sony that is purported to be the biggest record contract in history-7 releases in 10 years, and the estate will earn upwards of $200 million. Now that’s a mighty big investment, especially in light of the fact that records just don’t sell the way they used to. However, that’s about how much Sony Music has earned off of Mike’s music in just the short time since he’s passed away, so I’d say that investment is fairly recoupable. It certainly means Prince, Paris and Blanket will never want for anything, nor will his mother Katherine. And maybe they’ll lend Jermaine some money so he can keep his bathroom cabinet filled with hair products. As far as new material, I’m sure there’s a decent amount of stuff in the vaults, but I’m curious as to how much of it has not already made its’ way onto the net. There’s a book out that lists supposedly every song Michael ever recorded-released or not-and there were a lot of songs there that I didn’t recognize. So I figure there’ll be at least a handful of posthumous releases (and I hope they’re gonna put out the good stuff next-’cause what’s come out so far has been horrid).
Check out what my man GG had to say about this over at Sonicclash.