The Michael Jackson estate is in the process of selling half of its interests in the legendary singer’s music catalog in the $800 million to $900 million range, three sources have confirmed. Variety While specifics are unclear, sources say Sony and a potential financial partner are looking to acquire 50 percent of the estate’s interests in Jackson’s publishing, recorded music revenue, the “MJ: The Musical” Broadway show and the upcoming biopic “Michael.” are negotiating for. And possibly more assets.
The package will be the biggest deal ever in the still booming music catalog market.
A financial source tells. Variety that Primary Wave Music already owns a portion of Jackson’s publishing catalog, though the details are unclear.
Jackson State representatives, co-executives John Branca and John McClain, Sony and PrimaryView declined. VarietyMultiple requests for comment.
Sony has been involved in some previous high-profile catalog deals: It acquired Bruce Springsteen’s publishing and recorded music catalogs for a combined price that sources say was about $600 million. Sources say the company also paid $150 million to $200 million for the rights to Bob Dylan’s recorded music catalog, after the legendary songwriter sold his publishing rights to Universal Music for about $400 million. Such blockbuster deals have become the norm in recent years — the three core members of Genesis sold a catalog package to Concord for $300 million — but if the information is correct, Jackson’s deal is the biggest ever.
Sources wouldn’t confirm a financial partner in the deal, and it’s not yet clear if anyone is definitively involved, but possible suspects include Eldridge Industries, which backed Sony on the Springsteen catalog deal. had partnered with and acquired the pre-2020 publication catalog of Assassins. and Shamrock, which recently partnered with Universal to acquire Dr. Dre’s catalog for more than $200 million and in 2020 acquired the rights to Taylor Swift’s first six albums from a consortium led by Scooter Braun.
Sony and its predecessor CBS were the sole home for Jackson’s catalog of recorded music throughout his solo career and the final years of his career with the Jackson 5. The singer died in 2009 at the age of 50. His estate’s vast entertainment interests are firmly managed by Branca, his longtime lawyer, and co-executor John McClain.
Jackson’s catalog of recorded music is the most profitable in history – only his 1982 “Thriller” album is one of the two biggest sellers of all time and was the first album to be certified 30 times platinum. There was, although such data has been messed up. The age of streaming.
In 2016, Sony Corporation entered into a $750 million deal with the estate to acquire the Jackson estate’s 50% stake in their joint venture, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which they formed in 1995. In 2018, Sony disclosed in its earnings report that as part of its $2.3 billion acquisition of EMI Music Publishing, it had acquired the Jackson estate’s 25.1% stake in the company for $287.5 million.
At the end of the years-long process, which began six years ago but was not cleared by the EU until 2018, EMI and Sony/ATV were wholly owned by Sony, making them the world’s largest Became the sole owner of a major music publishing company.
Read full article here