SONY SUCKS

"As you all know, Marni and myself, along with a number of other Max-Jax'ers attended the MJ50 party in Sydney on Friday the 29th of August. Additionally, the two of us were actually lucky enough to be invited to attend the PRE-party, called the VIP Party, which was full of record excecutives, promoters, television, media and radio crew and personalities and more! We were also lucky enough to meet and speak at length with the boss of Sony/BMG Australia, who openly answered ALL our questions related to Michael Jackson! Here is some of the things we learnt:

1.) Tour related items-
Michael has said that he wants to tour. Yes, that is right; Sony say they have been informed MJ wants to go on tour. The way he worded it, I was under the impression that Sony believe BIG shows at stadiums with enormous capacities would be the best option for Michael. He used this example: Doing a show at the MCG for 100,000 people at one time and doing only ONE show, rather than 5 shows at an indoor arena that holds only 20,000. They believe that by doing that there is a much better chance of it all going ahead. Same money, same total attendance but far less shows. Better for MJ and easier for Sony to organize. Win/win.

2.) New album related items-
Michael has submitted 3 songs (demos) from the new album for preview to Sony BMG in New York. They said they are not radio friendly. They said first of all, they NEED a BIG hit single. They said until MJ presents at least one hit single, they wont even consider supporting an album. I am guessing that MJ wont dare show them any quality music yet, for fear of risking a leak. I reckon MJ will wait until his entire album is finished, and packed with hits, first song to last song, before he seriously presents anything to Sony NY. I mean look at Thriller 25 mixes leaking out months in advance! Also, I've been told by some of my contacts who are/were actually working ON the album, that the album will only include hit music. No fillers. No questionable songs. Hit after hit. And thats what is taking so long. We will have to wait and see.

Sony say they want to be selective and careful about the new album because they were "burned" with Invincible. A few things happened- MJ did NOT submit all new tracks as expected with Invincible. Sony say some of the tracks were recycled or carried over from previous album recording sessions. They also said MJ backed out on the Millennium concerts and other promotion he was expected to do for Invincible, including a tour. Sony Australia said they worked very hard for Invincible, but the singles did not sell as expected, and that coupled with the fact MJ backed out of promo made it extremely hard for them to promote. They say in todays music, you are only as good as your last single, which is why they require a genuine HIT after all his years in absence.

Sony maintain that they still have a lot of faith in Michael, and that he can deliver great new music. They want him to.

3.) Contract related items-
Michael Jackson is still a Sony artist and he still owes them money. The original contract from 1991 has still not been fulfilled, which was 7 studio albums. He's done 4 plus several packages. Sony still own the masters of the previous albums. So when the new album comes, I would expect it via Sony/BMG.

4.) King Of Pop album-
Michael Jackson approved the artwork, websites, concept and basically the entire project of KOP / MJ50. As such, he is credited as 'Executive producer'. Australia was the first country to start the ball rolling on the KOP albums, and the design, packaging etc, originated from Australia.

Michael Jackson did not want to know about turning 50- he didn't want a series of albums named after his 50th birthday. That's why the album is called '50th Anniversary Edition'- he asked Sony to remove "50th Birthday" and even the term "MJ50" when refering to the fan party (which they didn't do lol). The special iPods and related merchandise all say "King of Pop" rather than "Mj50".

5.) Fun facts-
Album sales estimates-
Thriller is currently at 118 million.
Invincible is currently 8 million.
(worldwide figures)

6.) Video footage (concerts etc)-
Basically, Sony has access to ALL Michael's tour footae and could release it IF they wanted to. One problem, they cant afford to, literally! With Sony/MJ partnership they split music profits 50/50. Fair enough.. but VIDEO is totally different!

MJ made this deal back in the day where he makes 70% and Sony makes 30%. Basically, it was just good deal making on MJ's part. He pretty much outsmarted Sony. Sony said that Michael would need to allow SONY to get 70% and himself (MJ) to get only 30% for it to be financially do-able. So basically MJ needs to re-do the deal and surrender 40% of his earnings on the DVDs. IF Sony released the DVDs right now THEY would need to fund production, design, manufacturing and distribution. That would take up their entire 30% of the earnings and MJ would make a sweet 70% for doing NOTHING. So basically, we will NEVER see MJ tours released on DVD unless MJ releases them independently. Probably not on his priority list right now."