Even in death, Michael Jackson is breaking new records.
The King of Pop’s estate has signed the biggest recording deal in history: a $200 million guaranteed contract with Sony Music Entertainment for 10 projects over seven years, according to a person familiar with the deal.
The record-breaking contract through 2017 could be worth up to $250 million if certain conditions are met. One of the albums will be of never-before-released Jackson recordings that will come out in November, the person said.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the official announcement is expected later Tuesday.
Future projects may also include a video game, a DVD compilation of videos and a rerelease of “Off the Wall,” Jackson’s fifth studio album, which first came out in 1979, accompanied by some unreleased material. Before his sudden death in June at age 50, the pop star had wanted to reissue the album, people familiar with the deal said.
One of the projects already counted in the contract was the two-disc album that accompanied “This Is It,” the film based on footage of concert rehearsals for what was to have been Jackson’s comeback at London’s O2 arena.
Including the more than 5 million copies of that special release, Jackson has sold some 31 million albums since his death, about two-thirds of them outside the United States.
“During his life, Michael’s contracts set the standard for the industry,” said John Branca, the co-administrator of the Jackson estate, in a statement prepared for release Tuesday. “By all objective criteria, this agreement with Sony Music demonstrates the lasting power of Michael’s music by exceeding all previous industry benchmarks.”
Rob Stringer, chairman of Sony Music’s Columbia Epic Label Group, said in prepared remarks, “We’re dedicated to protecting this icon’s legacy and we’re thrilled that we can continue to bring his music to the world for the foreseeable future.”
The landmark deal is worth more than all other benchmarks, such as the all-encompassing rights deals that concert promoter and ticket-seller Live Nation Entertainment Inc. had previously signed with Madonna at $120 million and Jay-Z for $150 million.
Jackson’s deal is even more remarkable because it does not include royalties from merchandise.
The contract shows the value of legacy artists. It also comes at a time of decline for the music industry, with sales down about half from their peak in 2000 mainly due to free file-swapping.
The money will go a long way to settling Jackson’s debts, estimated at around $400 million when he died. But the singer whose life was plagued with scandal has had a resurgence in popularity in death.
Distribution rights for “This Is It” were sold to Sony Pictures, another unit of Sony Corp., for $60 million and the movie went on to gross $252 million worldwide, the most of any concert film ever.
Revenue from that, song sales and merchandising agreements brought into the estate revenues of about $100 million, lawyers for the estate’s administrators told a Los Angeles Superior Court judge in December, when they sought a percentage as an administration fee.
The Walt Disney Co. even brought back the 17-minute Jackson movie “Captain EO” to its Disneyland theme park in Anaheim last month. The original began running at the park in 1986 but was pulled in 1997.
Jackson’s most lasting and valuable asset is the 50 percent stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a company that owns publishing rights to music by The Beatles and numerous other artists, including Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. Split with Sony Music, the copyright catalog itself is estimated to be worth $2 billion.
The new financial windfall comes even as circumstances around his death remain in legal limbo.
Dr. Conrad Murray faces an involuntary manslaughter charge for allegedly giving Jackson a lethal combination of sedatives. He is due back in a Los Angeles court April 5.
The 22 pieces of custom-made furniture Michael Jackson commissioned for his London home are going on the auction block.
Darren Julien of Julien’s Auctions says a gilded red velvet sofa that seats nine, a leopard-print chair trimmed with ostrich feathers and a pair of velvet armchairs embroidered with gold eagles are among the offerings.
Jackson intended to use the furnishings during his “This Is It” comeback concert run in London.
Fans can visit a re-creation of the home at Las Vegas’ Planet Hollywood casino from June 14 to June 25 before the items are sold at auction.
A portion of the proceeds will benefit two charities: MusiCares, which provides health care and other services for struggling musicians, and Joshua’s Heart, which aims to end world hunger.
Highlights from Michael Jackson’s History world tour have been released as an iTunes and BlackBerry application.
Bosses at Internet holding company Metatron have pieced together the concert movie, featuring the late King of Pop onstage and backstage during the 82-date tour. The film was made available on all mobile platforms on Friday.
Footage also includes rarely seen footage of Jackson behind the scenes, rare photographs and performances of hits like They Don’t Care About Us, In The Closet, Wanna Be Startin’ Something, Smooth Criminal, I Want You Back, Billie Jean, Thriller and Beat It.
A spokesman for Metatron claims the film is the first and only high-definition recording of Michael Jackson performing his hits live. The footage was shot using 50 cameras.
The film has never been released in the U.S.
Metatron CEO Joe Riehl said, “Michael Jackson is the most successful entertainer of all time and his music and videos continue to be top sales performers in all formats… We are proud to be the first to release this incredible video from one of the world’s truly great all-time performers.”
Here’s the link to the iTunes application – it’s very cool:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/devotion-a-tribute-to-michael/id353428291?mt=8#
Armed cops swooped on the Jackson family estate in Encino, California estate on Friday, after responding to a burglary-in-progress call.
Los Angeles Police Department officers with shotguns swarmed the family home of Katherine Jackson following a 911 call.
The five cops searched the home for a suspected burglar while a police helicopter circled overhead. However, the call was a false alarm, reports TMZ.com.
It is not known if any of the musical clan were at home during the raid.
The incident comes just days after the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) visited the home on Monday following a tip-off about an incident involving a stun gun.
Katherine Jackson denied reports Jermaine Jackson’s son Jaafar attacked his cousin Blanket – Michael Jackson’s youngest child – with the weapon.
An attorney for Michael Jackson’s estate has branded a multi-million dollar lawsuit from a concert promoter as “frivolous and wholly without merit.”
Allgood Entertainment lawyers filed a $300 million creditor’s claim on Friday, demanding a share of profits from the hit This Is It documentary, which shows Jackson in rehearsals for his ill-fated final tour.
In the suit, Jackson and his agent Frank Dileo are accused of pulling out of Allgood’s planned Jackson 5 show to “secretly team up with AEG to produce a concert or series of concerts in London.”
But attorney Howard Weitzman, who is representing Jackson’s estate in court, tells TMZ.com he plans to fight the allegations, insisting: “AllGood’s creditor’s claim and its underlying lawsuit are frivolous and wholly without merit.”
Company bosses at Allgood previously lodged a $300 million lawsuit in October claiming the Thriller hitmaker refused to join his siblings at the gig, despite his manager reportedly signing the deal.
The huge sum will be added to a long list of creditor’s claims against Jackson’s estate, which already exceeds $23 million.
TMZ is being sued for broadcasting allegedly stolen and confidential footage of an interview with Debbie Rowe soon after her ex-husband, Michael Jackson, died last June.
The details of this lawsuit filed Monday in California District Court by F. Marc Schaffel Prods. raise interesting questions about the gossip Web site’s news operation, copyright issues, and the boundaries between an entertainment clip and a fair-use news product.
In the complaint, the plaintiff claims to be the owner of a 2003 filmed interview with Debbie Rowe. Some portions of the interview were aired in 2003, but others were held back as private and confidential, subject to a joint consent agreement between the interviewer and interviewee.
After Jackson was indicted for child molestation in December 2003, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff obtained and executed a search warrant on Schaffel’s home and seized the interview. Two years later, the County Sheriff represented that he returned the property and hadn’t released the “confidential outtakes” to anyone.
But last July, TMZ broadcast those confidential outtakes that included a conversation where Rowe talks about needing sedatives. The plaintiff says that Rowe’s comments were made in the context of a joke about stage fright, but taken by TMZ to tie past drug use to Jackson’s death from a prescription-drug overdose.
After TMZ aired the interview, Schaffel and Rowe demanded that the confidential outtakes be removed. TMZ first claimed the video was sourced from a British TV station, but then said it came from the Santa Barbara Sherriff’s Department. The plaintiff says that when confronted, TMZ rescinded the story and claimed its source was confidential.
Schaffel is now seeking damages from TMZ over copyright infringement and conversion. Schaffel says the confidential outtakes have “an estimated value of potentially millions of dollars, the exact amount of which shall be proved at trial.”
TMZ may try to claim that its use of the clip was “fair use” and the court may apply the “four factor” test and look into the purpose and character of the use. Does an allegedly stolen entertainment clip need to be cleared or does any broadcaster have the right to broadcast footage in the name of “news” without need to obtain consent? Will a judge apply the rare so-called “fifth” factor of fair use that takes a moral evaluation of the goodness or badness of TMZ into account? And does TMZ as a news outlet get statutory protection from revealing sources of news if they are trying to protect allegedly stolen media?
These will be questions posed in an interesting case that puts TMZ’s news-gathering operation under the microscope.
Schaffel also sued Fox News last month for airing the interview. Details of a possible lawsuit against TMZ were first reported by Hollywood Reporter blogger Roger Friedman last August.
The complaint was filed by Howard King at King, Holmes, Paterno & Berliner.
Janet Jackson has agreed to take her late brother Michael’s place in the JACKSON 5 when the reformed sibling group embarks on a world tour later this year.
The singer was rumoured to be joining her brothers as a tribute to the King of Pop, who died last June, but has so far denied she will be taking part in the shows.
But now Janet is preparing to sing with the Jackson 5 on stage, according to her brother Jermaine.
He says, “We had a conference call and Janet has agreed to join us on tour.”
The family of the late pop superstar are astonished at how similar his three kids – Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and seven-year-old Prince Michael II, who is known as ‘Blanket’ – are to him with the eldest pair in particular showing signs of following in his footsteps.
A source said: “Talking to Prince is like talking to Michael. He’s so smart and mature – way beyond his age. Paris, meanwhile, wants to be a singer.”
The children are now living with the singer’s mother Katherine in California and according to family insiders, they are able to live a much more “normal” life than they did with their father.
The source told People magazine: “They like not wearing the masks when they go out. It’s a different experience for them.
“It would have been hard to imagine them going out in public or showing up at someone’s house hanging out and playing video games before their father died.
That had a lot to do with Michael, because every time he showed up there were bodyguards and chaos. And now, not so much. It feels much more normal and they’ve adjusted really well to that.”
The children spend a lot of time with their older cousins, which their family believe has helped them deal with their father’s death last June.
Family attorney Adam Streisand said: “They’re doing great, thanks to the love and support they’ve gotten. With the kids running around the house, laughing, playing, they’ve given each other a lot of joy.
“Katherine really listens to the kids. She wants to give them a sense of freedom when she can. She wants to encourage them.”
A judge is scheduled to decide whether Michael Jackson’s father should receive medical records related to his superstar son’s death.
Joe Jackson’s attorney issued a subpoena last month seeking all his son’s medical records from Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where Michael Jackson died on June 25.
His attorney, Brian Oxman, sought the files as part of an effort to obtain a monthly stipend for the Jackson family patriarch. He says his client has a right to know more about his son’s death and the records could also determine whether they pursue a wrongful death lawsuit.
Attorneys for Michael Jackson’s estate want the judge to quash the subpoenas and argue they violate privacy rights and are not relevant to the allowance request. If they win, they want Oxman and Joe Jackson to pay nearly $9,000 in legal fees.
Oxman says Joe Jackson will not attend Thursday’s hearing.
