The Estate of late Michael Jackson and Sony Music have agreed to a new deal which will extend the landmark 42-year relationship with the King of Pop’s music.
Effective January 1, 2018, Sony Music will extend the term of their administration of MJ’s catalog in a long-term recording agreement. Sony will also have the opportunity to partner on additional projects that the Estate may produce during the term of the contract.
Rob Stringer, Chief Executive Officer, Sony Music Entertainment comments, “Michael Jackson was an unsurpassed genius and an iconic force in music entertainment. The music—and videos—he made as an artist as part of the Sony Music family are essential to pop culture history. We’re proud to be part of that history, and to find new innovative ways to make Michael’s music available to future generations of fans.”
John Branca and John McClain, co-executors of MJ’s Estate, added, “We couldn’t ask for more creative and innovative partners than Sony and Rob Stringer (whose history working personally with Michael goes back to the 1990s). Michael continues to inspire generations of artists who have come after him and attract new fans who understand that his music and message are more important than ever. We look forward to continuing to preserve and develop his remarkable musical legacy with Sony.”
To date, Michael Jackson has achieved 40 RIAA certifications and 40 #1 chart positions and 102 Top 5 chart positions. Jackson’s overall worldwide record sales exceed the 1 billion threshold, including over 100 million sales of “Thriller” which remains the biggest selling album in history.
The last seven years of the creative partnership between Sony and the Estate have been characterized by the same kind of record-setting achievements that Michael realized during his lifetime. His recordings continue to meet new sales benchmarks: Last year, Thriller became the first and only album in RIAA history to pass the triple Diamond mark with a 33X platinum certification; Bad also achieved Diamond status.
Jackson’s latest release, the compilation album, Scream was his 16th Billboard Top 40 Album and 30th charting album and its release kicked off the worldwide. His previous release, 2014’s Xscape rocketed to #1 in 49 countries and produced the worldwide hit, “Love Never Felt So Good.”
Sony and the Estate have also partnered in the production of two critically acclaimed documentaries directed by Spike Lee: Bad 25 and Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall.
Other innovations created in conjunction with Sony include the first completely crowd-sourced music video for “Behind the Mask” (2010), the first Twitter music video premiere for “A Place With No Name” (2014) and a groundbreaking augmented reality campaign for Scream (2017).
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