(News Rebeat) - According to record industry reports, Sony Music Group has completed a transaction to acquire half of Michael Jackson’s master recordings and music releases.
The total catalog is estimated to be worth about $1.2 billion, sources said Sony will pay at least $600 million for participation.
The owners of Michael Jackson’s music and publishing rights have just sold their share.
If the data is accurate, The deal is the largest to date for an artist’s estate.
The details
Sources confirmed to Variety that the complex deal also includes assets from Jackson’s legendary Mijac publishing catalog, which includes numerous Sly & the Family Stone titles, as well as hits written by or starring Jerry Lee Lewis, Jackie Wilson, Curtis Mayfield, Ray Charles, Percy. . Sleigh, Dion and others.
However, Does not include royalties from the Broadway musical MJ nor from other theatrical productions featuring the musician’s music.
Michael Jackson has become one of the most famous and popular artists in the world.
In turn, the Primary Wave Music company continues to have a 10% stake in Jackson’s publishing activities.
Representatives for Sony, Jackson’s estate and Primary Wave did not respond to requests for comment. Furthermore, at the time, Sony had not reported the details of the agreement to acquire Bruce Springsteen’s recorded publishing and music catalogue, for approximately $600 million.
A unique catalogue
Sony and its predecessor, the CBS record label, were the sole home of Jackson’s recorded music catalog during his solo career and in the final years of his activity with the Jackson 5.
Scene from the video for “Thriller”, by Michael Jackson.
Jackson’s catalog of recorded music is one of the most profitable in history: your album Thriller from 1982 is alone one of the two best sellers of all time.
In 2016, Sony Corp. reached a $750 million deal to acquire the stake in 50% of Jackson’s estate in their joint venture, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which they formed in 1995.
In 2018, Sony revealed in an earnings report that during its $2.3 billion acquisition of EMI Music Publishing, it had also acquired 25.1% stake in Jackson’s estate in that company for 287.5 million dollars.
video
At the end of that years-long process, which began six years earlier but was only approved by the European Union in 2018, EMI and Sony/ATV were wholly owned by Sony, making it the sole owner of the largest music publisher. in the world.
By Charles
February 14, 2024
