Michael Jackson Fires Sony

[MagicAlex]

Well I guess we'll be seeing more finger-pointing and price hikes!

Jackson Fires Sony - Sony Sticks Tongue Out In Retaliation (http://www.msnbc.com/news/768549.asp)

I guess it's hard to admit and take blame when you've released a failed album!

:mad:

[BitShifter]

Here's a little more inside scoop regarding the Beatles' catalog, Michael's future, etc.

Michael Jackson Divorcing Sony Music (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,55539,00.html)

[Beagle]

Maybe he will start his own label, Freak Of Nature Records, and will have a stable full of musically talentless buffoons who can dance up a storm.

I can't believe he's blaming Sony for lack of sales on that last piece of dung he "released".

Retire already please. You were always the weakest link in your recordings anyway. Listening to "Beat It" for your "vocals" would be like going to a World Series game to listen to the hot dog vendors.

[Sckott]

Michael Jackson FIRES Sony?? Maybe the SACD of "Thriller" will be a collectors item.

Michael doesn't excite anyone anymore. Yes, his past stuff is fabulous. The music industry isn't making the most sense out of anything either. I don't see it being Sony's fault. Hope a judge overturns it. A lot of people worked very hard to keep Michael Jackson a household name. Now, seems like even Weird Al Yankovic is more popular....

[Grant]

Originally posted by MagicAlex


I guess it's hard to admit and take blame when you've released a failed album!

:mad:

Actually, his last album didn't fail. It just didn't sell on the same level as his others. It sold well in the R&B world but it just wasn't the crossover smash that "Bad", "Thriller", and "Off The Wall" were. It didn't up the ante like all the pre-release hype said it would. But, his last album, "Invincible" was like most other albums that have been released by former superstars in recent years.

Hey, maybe he'll go back to Motown like Diana Ross did!

[Mike]

Originally posted by Grant


Actually, his last album didn't fail. It just didn't sell on the same level as his others.
Failure in the business sense is determined by whether or not the album makes a profit. If you read the articles about how much this album cost to make, plus the huge promotional costs, this album is most likely is a failure (i.e. money loser). Some people are calling the album "Unrecoupable". :D :D

I haven't read the articles above yet. I hope they noted where Michael Jackson called Tommy Mottola "the devil". :D

[CT Dave]

Did I read that Fox News article correctly? Sony paid an estimated $50 million dollars to remaster Michael Jackson's back catalog? How on earth could the cost be so outrageous?

[Sckott]

Sony will use that as a device to show that the reissues actually cost "that much". They're not lying, but Sony went ahead and did it to remarket most of the Sony catalog anyways. Don't play too much into it. Sony would have done this anyways.

I think it's garbage. MJ's audience has grown up and dispurted into fans of Latino and other types of music. Spears and Agulliera (sp) kinda' hold the crown now, and soon, they'll be replaced by someting else.

Donno why change is a big suprise....??

[BitShifter]

Originally posted by Mike

Failure in the business sense is determined by whether or not the album makes a profit. If you read the articles about how much this album cost to make, plus the huge promotional costs, this album is most likely is a failure (i.e. money loser). Some people are calling the album "Unrecoupable".

Most of the articles I've seen put the cost of Invincible at $30 million, and so far it's sold 2 million copies. It might have to sell another million copies to break even...

[Mike]

Originally posted by Sckott
Donno why change is a big suprise....??
Because Michael Jackson is a disturbed individual desperately clinging to his declining popularity. It's pathetic, really. I believe it was posted here that he has hired Johnnie Cochran and Al Sharpton to put pressure on Sony!

Remember when MJ forced MTV to call him the "King of Pop"? Remember when he floated a huge statute of himself down the river in Europe? I'm happy to see this guy get his comeuppance. It's about time that he fade back into the woodwork. The King of Pop! :rolleyes: :D

[Mike]

Originally posted by BitShifter


Most of the articles I've seen put the cost of Invincible at $30 million, and so far it's sold 2 million copies. It might have to sell another million copies to break even...

I'm not sure where you are getting another million copies to break even. It's really all speculation for us outsiders. But let me note the number you are citing was recording and production, and did not include promotion. And either way, MJ ain't selling another million in the US. Unrecoupable is done!

[Drew]

I'm not a big MJ fan and I never thought I'd see the day that I'd stick up for him, but anytime you sell 2 million copies of something and you can't make a profit on it, you have a serious flaw in your business plan. I realize that the production cost was some ungodly sum of money but can't these executives say "NO!"?

I said the same thing when Mariah was slam dunked by Virgin a few months ago. Its only a matter of time before MJ gets another multimillion dollar record contract thrown at him just like she did.

The record industry is obviously using a broken business model.

[Grant]

Originally posted by Mike

Failure in the business sense is determined by whether or not the album makes a profit. If you read the articles about how much this album cost to make, plus the huge promotional costs, this album is most likely is a failure (i.e. money loser). Some people are calling the album "Unrecoupable". :D :D


Yeah, I forgot about the cost of recording it. He went waaay overboard and it sounds like he didn't spend anymore than anoyne else in the R&B world.

[Grant]

Originally posted by CT Dave
Did I read that Fox News article correctly? Sony paid an estimated $50 million dollars to remaster Michael Jackson's back catalog? How on earth could the cost be so outrageous?

He took his time and they kept remixing and remixing the SACD versions in multichannel because he didn't like the results. He also spent tons of money remastering his Epic catalog. They remastered everything twice.

[Grant]

Originally posted by Sckott
Sony will use that as a device to show that the reissues actually cost "that much". They're not lying, but Sony went ahead and did it to remarket most of the Sony catalog anyways. Don't play too much into it. Sony would have done this anyways.

I think it's garbage. MJ's audience has grown up and dispurted into fans of Latino and other types of music.

I don't think so. There are still legions of us baby-boomers who grew up with Michael Jackson and stick with his music.

[Grant]

Originally posted by Mike

Because Michael Jackson is a disturbed individual desperately clinging to his declining popularity. It's pathetic, really. I believe it was posted here that he has hired Johnnie Cochran and Al Sharpton to put pressure on Sony!

Remember when MJ forced MTV to call him the "King of Pop"? Remember when he floated a huge statute of himself down the river in Europe? I'm happy to see this guy get his comeuppance. It's about time that he fade back into the woodwork. The King of Pop! :rolleyes: :D

First, There are so many unfounded rumors surrounding MJ it isn't funny! He never hired Al Sharpton and Johnnie Cochran!

MJ did not force MTV to call him the "King Of Pop"! His manager at the time was behind it.

He was never in the woodwork! MJ has been famous since 1969 and it never let up! Many in the rock world don't understand this because they didn't pay attention to R&B music in the 70s and early 80s. Some people only became aware of MJ after "Thriller".

[MagicAlex]

Originally posted by Grant
Hey, maybe he'll go back to Motown like Diana Ross did!

I agree! I believe with a big change like that...maybe some new direction (possibly a step backward toward his soulful roots) that things could once again look up. He needs to get that 'image' out of his head.

I believe that the same would be true for Mariah as well....

We'll see!

[Beagle]

Originally posted by Grant


I don't think so. There are still legions of us baby-boomers who grew up with Michael Jackson and stick with his music. I don't know about that, Grant. I'm not really sure. I thought he lost it after "I Want You Back". Pretty strange to peak at 12 years old. When you get to the "peak" period, take away Rod Temperton and there weren't a hell of a lot of substance there.

I thought "The Girl Is Mine" was the most pathetic, embarassing moment in pop, if pop is not too strong a word. Especially that verbal exchange towards the end "She's mine" "No no, she's MINE!"

"The doggone girl is mine"

Forget it girls, she's gone to find a MAN!

[Grant]

Originally posted by Beagle
I don't know about that, Grant. I'm not really sure. I thought he lost it after "I Want You Back". Pretty strange to peak at 12 years old. When you get to the "peak" period, take away Rod Temperton and there weren't a hell of a lot of substance there.

Obviously, you never paid attention to R&B in the 70s and early 80s, especially the Jackson 5! Take a look at any chart book and you will see how much bigger they got after "I Want You Back", artistically, and in popularity. We have all discussed this before.

I guess you had to be around age 6-13 during the early 70s to appreciate their immense popularity. As I said before, many rock listeners pretty much ignored R&B after the 60s were over.


I thought "The Girl Is Mine" was the most pathetic, embarassing moment in pop, if pop is not too strong a word. Especially that verbal exchange towards the end "She's mine" "No no, she's MINE!"

"The doggone girl is mine"

Forget it girls, she's gone to find a MAN!
LOL!

[Andrew]

Who gets custody of the masters, Epic or MJJ Productions?

[Mike]

Originally posted by Grant
First, There are so many unfounded rumors surrounding MJ it isn't funny! He never hired Al Sharpton and Johnnie Cochran!

No rumor here. Sharpton and Cochran have formed a coalition and their first client just happens to be Michael Jackson. :rolleyes: I know Sharpton and Cochran have been so interested in helping down and out artists before MJ started in with Sony. Not.

Here's an article and a quote:

At their news conference, Sharpton and Cochran denied the coalition was started to help any particular artist, although Sharpton acknowledged talking to both Jackson and Sony Music chairman Tommy Mottola.

http://music.indiatimes.com/buzz_66.htm


Originally posted by Grant
MJ did not force MTV to call him the "King Of Pop"! His manager at the time was behind it.
Are you saying that MJ is controlled by his manager? Do you know how many managers he has hired and fired over the years? If it was his manager's idea and he went along with it, then he is responsible. What does it matter if it was his manager, publicist, PR company or whoever? MJ is in charge and he forced MTV to call him the King of Pop - how presumptous and how lame.

Originally posted by Grant
He was never in the woodwork! MJ has been famous since 1969 and it never let up!

That is true. In my opinion, Michael's talent disappeared with "Black and White", around the same time his ego exploded. He is not the King of Pop by any stretch and when he pulled that stunt I began to look forward to his eventual fall from popularity. And here we are. Maybe he'll get Quincy back, make a good album, and apologize for annoiting himself King of Pop. I'm just happy that his album tanked so I don't have it shoved down my throat everytime time I check out some mass media.

[BitShifter]

Originally posted by Mike


I'm not sure where you are getting another million copies to break even. It's really all speculation for us outsiders. But let me note the number you are citing was recording and production, and did not include promotion. And either way, MJ ain't selling another million in the US. Unrecoupable is done!

I was just seat-of-the-pants-ing about $10 clear per unit after the physical cost of the media, distribution, and promotion are taken out of the $15-or-so list per unit, which may be rather optimisitic. I think you're right, Invincible has no chance of ever breaking even.

[mikenyc]

With the advent of the internet, Music Companies are passe'...dinosaurs.

When the World financial commuity and Wall Street figures this out, they will be gone for good.

Good ridance to bad garbage !

[Grant]

Originally posted by Mike


That is true. In my opinion, Michael's talent disappeared with "Black and White", around the same time his ego exploded. He is not the King of Pop by any stretch and when he pulled that stunt I began to look forward to his eventual fall from popularity. And here we are. Maybe he'll get Quincy back, make a good album, and apologize for annoiting himself King of Pop. I'm just happy that his album tanked so I don't have it shoved down my throat everytime time I check out some mass media.


You have to remember, MJ spent most of his life in the public eye and was a teen-idol. It's probably hard for him to be a centered person.

Quincy? He's busy with other things. I think MJ parted with Jones because he wanted a more hip-hop flavor, and felt Jones couldn't give it to him. So, he hooked up with Teddy Reiley, whom at the time was on top with Bobby Brown, Guy, and other new-jack swingers.

Are you saying that MJ is controlled by his manager? Do you know how many managers he has hired and fired over the years? If it was his manager's idea and he went along with it, then he is responsible. What does it matter if it was his manager, publicist, PR company or whoever? MJ is in charge and he forced MTV to call him the King of Pop - how presumptous and how lame.

MJ had so many handlers around him that it was probably very easy for Frank Deileio to do this. Apparrently, he was powerful enough to force MTV to play the "Billie Jean" video of have CBS pull their artists' video's off the air. MJ? He was probably too busy with concerts and such.

On the other hand, if I AM wrong, it could be because at the time he was getting tired of all the fame and in his juvinille mind, pushed the KOP title for fun. And THEN, his manager forced the issue.

[Mike]

Well maybe I should cut him some slack because he's such a whacko. I have to admit his various bizarre behaviors have kept me entertained. :) I remember on the MTV awards when he said "They said we wouldn't last" and then kissed Lisa Marie. lol What about when he did that video press conference about his police interrogation and he looked all freaked out and said, "and they touched my penis." I couldn't stop laughing - I think I have that on tape somewhere. But that King of Pop thing - man did that get under my skin. :D