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Sony do $200 million deal with Jacko estate
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 16 March 2010
The estate of Michael Jackson has reportedly entered into a $200 million deal with Sony Music – Jacko’s label partners since the late seventies – which will see the major release ten new albums over seven years featuring both old and previously unreleased music by the late king of pop.
The Wall Street Journal, citing sources close to the agreement, say it’s the biggest record deal in history, and that the Jacko estate could earn $50 million more in addition to the $200 million directly committed to the deal if the album releases are as successful as hoped.
Sony, of course, is hoping that the renewed interest in Jackson’s work that followed his sudden death last year can be maintained, so that new Jacko packages can be sold to mainstream pop consumers as well as the late singer’s always dedicated, if slightly loony, fans.
A statement is expected from Sony confirming the deal later today. It’s thought this mega-bucks deal in particular should enable Jacko’s estate to start settling some of the late singer’s famously large debts. Those running the estate seem increasingly hopeful most of those debts can now be settled without having to sell any of Jackson’s property or, more crucially, his 50% stake in the Sony/ATV music publishing company.
Ironically, such an achievement may not have been possible had Jackson not died, given that, even with the planned This Is It residency and tour, it seems unlikely the value of the Jacko legacy would ever have reached the dizzy heights it now has had the singer lived.