In what appears to be the biggest single sale for a solo musician’s collection of musical work, Sony has acquired half of Michael Jackson‘s publishing and recorded masters.
Valued at more than $1.2 billion, Billboard estimated that the music company will pay some $600 million its share.
In February 0f 2023, Variety reported that Jackson’s estate was seeking between $800 million and $900 million for half of its interests in Michael’s music catalog. At the time, Billboard reported that the estate earned about $75 million annually from assets that included ownership of master recordings, publishing for Jackson’s share of his songs, the singer’s Mijac publishing catalog, and royalties from theatrical shows based on the superstar’s iconic music.
21 years after Jackson and Sony formed Sony/ATV Music Publishing, in 2016 Sony purchased his half of the company in a deal that reaped the Jackson estate $750 million. In 1985, Michael first acquired ATV Music Publishing, which owned the publishing rights to the majority of the Beatles‘ music for $41.5 million. The singer merged his stake in ATV with Sony Music to form Sony/ATV eleven years later.
Despite Jackson’s legacy having faced multiple allegations of child sexual abuse, the iconic singer continues to be one of greatest-selling artists of all time.
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Author: Al Denté
Photo: White House Photo Office – Public Domain