The Biggest Music Deal After Michael’s Death

After his death, the Michael Jackson Foundation signed the biggest music deal in history worth $225 million with the massive music company Sony. Under this agreement, the completion of 10 projects over a period of 7 years is guaranteed. Also, Michael Jackson’s contract with this company for the release of his songs and albums has been extended for the past 30 years. Yesterday, John Branca, one of the trustees of the Michael Jackson Foundation, said in a statement: "The contracts Michael signed throughout his career set new standards for the music industry. Based on all objective criteria and regulations, this new contract with Sony proves the enduring power of Michael’s music by surpassing all previous standards. We and Sony feel that the future for Michael Jackson is endless." Rob Stringer, head of Sony’s division Epic, says: "We are committed to protecting the legacy of this music icon, and we’re thrilled that we can continue to bring his music to the world in the future." Future plans may include releasing a DVD collection of Michael’s music videos or reissuing the album Off The Wall (released in 1979), which includes unique and new tracks. "The tracks we have from this album are amazing and outstanding. The deleted pieces from the documentary are great, and we’re putting together a full program with them. We have an enormous number of incredible pieces from every era of Michael’s career. We’re turning everything upside down to see what we find." John McClain, another official of the Michael Jackson Foundation with 40 years of experience working with him, is leading the selection of unreleased material that may end up on store shelves as an album as early as this November. He says: "The first album will include 10 songs. There are fresh and old songs that deserve to be shared with Michael’s fans." Stringer, who considers this contract a turning point in the history of the music industry, says: "We’re considering a wide range of plans. Maybe theater, films, and cinematic products, or computer games and other media that I don’t know about today—but that will become real in 2015." In his blog, Roger Friedman wrote that despite the closing of this deal, the rights to release all of Michael Jackson’s original songs remain with his foundation, which is an unusual situation. The foundation is also negotiating with Sony to increase the percentage of profit related to royalties for these songs, which would be the highest percentage in the industry. Friedman concludes by adding that Michael’s debts will be settled soon, and this is a sad part of Michael Jackson’s story. For years, he was involved in financial issues and stepped away from his career. But after his death, his career and financial situation improved significantly. Source: eMJey / AP / Sony Music / Showbiz 411