BUSINESS AND SALES
Does Michael have his own record label?
Who is signed to Michael's label, MJJ Music?
Has Michael produced a play called "Sisterella"?
How does RIAA certification count CD's or boxed sets?
Was Michael sued for copyright infringement of "Dangerous"?
Was Michael sued for copyright infringement over other songs?
What are the facts about MJ's purchage of the Beatles songs?
Does Michael own his own songs?
>Does Michael have his own record label?
Yes, Michael Jackson has had his own record label - MJJ Music - since 1994. Releases on MJJ Music are distributed by Sony. In September 1997, MJJ Music reached a new level, when it was announced that Michael, Sony, and Prince Alwaleed formed a new joint venture company that will encompass Michael's record label, MJJ Music. As part of the new venture, MJJ Music plans to expand its music and publishing operations to extend the company's reach on a global scale. "Our new association allows MJJ Music to expand its horizons beyond my wildest dreams," stated Michael Jackson. "The success the label has enjoyed in the past three years is proof that we are committed, along with my partners, to making MJJ Music a full service label of international significance." Financial details of the joint venture were not disclosed. Jackson and Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud of Saudi Arabia formed Kingdom Entertainment in March 1996. MJJ Music has released seven albums since its launch in 1994, three of which have sold more than one million copies. Click here for the complete Press Release
Who is signed to Michael's label, MJJ Music?
Brownstone - a trio of African-American women from Boston, MA; their critically praised debut album "From the Bottom Up" has been certified Platinum in the US. Their second album "Still Climbing" was released in summer of 1997.
3T - Michael's nephews Taj, Taryll, and T.J., all sons of Tito and DeeDee Jackson; their debut album is "Brotherhood".
Men of Vizion - a group of 5 African-American men from Brooklyn, New York, all in their 20's - their debut album is "Personal", with Teddy Riley as producer. Teddy Riley brought them to Michael's attention in 1993, when he played him a few demo tracks.
Nathan Cavaleri - an Australian blues guitar prodigy, about 15 years old; his first album on MJJ is "Nathan".
No Authority - a group of four young men from California. Their debut album "Keep On" will be released in November 1997; preceded by their first single "Don't Stop." No Authority member, Josh Keaton, told CNN how they got their deal with MJJ Music, "Michael was on tour, either Switzerland or Sweden, and what we did was we sang on a tape, a video tape....videotaped us singing, dancing, performing and everything, and sent it to him and he loved it and just signed us."
Rebbie Jackson - Michael's eldest sister. Her album "Faithfully Yours" was released in spring of 1998. Michael composed and co-produced the song "Fly Away" that is included on Rebbie's album.
Tatyana Ali - her debut album "Kiss The Sky" was released in August 1998.
Other albums released on MJJ Music:
"Free Willy" soundtrack
"Free Willy 2" soundtrack
"Sisterella" stage musical. MJJ Music also produced the stage production (see the following item).
Additional information on MJJ Music artists can be found in the Links and News sections of the homepage.
(from MJJ Music, MJJ Productions, Black&White, Blues & Soul, E!, Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, Business Wire, CNN.)
Has Michael produced a play called "Sisterella"?
Michael Jackson and Jerry Greenberg are the executive producers of the new musical "Sisterella", which opened at the Pasadena Playhouse (CA, US) on March 17, 1996. Larry Hart, who wrote the book, music, and lyrics, is a Grammy-award-winning gospel singer and song writer based in Las Vegas. The play is a black musical adaptation of the Cinderella story set in turn-of-the-century New York. MJ attended the last showing of the play. There are tentative plans for the play to go on to Broadway or be made into a motion picture. (from LA Times)
The Sisterella stage production appeared in some parts of Europe, such as Germany (Dec 1996), and premiered in Melbourne, Australia at 'The Regent Theatre' on the 7th of March 1998. MJJ Music released a cast album of the same name.
Description as it appeared in the program:
The show is set in New York in 1912. Multi-millionaire John Kensington has died and is survived by his Ella, his second wife Dahlia and his stepdaughters Magnolia and Chrysanthemum. Dahlia plays the role of the grieving widow, anticipating inheriting his entire estate valued at over 900 million dollars. Later, it is discovered that Ella is going to inherit the estate from her father, a fact that leaves her stepmother and two stepsisters quite jealous and disturbed. In an attempt to secure the inheritance for themselves, the evil stepfamily devises a dastardly plot for Ella's demise. There's a prince. There's even a fairy Godfigure. There are lawyers, a court case and a trial. And a very happy ending.
Sisterella, with its dynamic staging, lavish costuming, lighting and special effects, rousing toe-tapping, hand-clapping music with lyrics that are clever, funny and satirical is a new musical not to be missed! Raymond Del Barrio, choreographer combines ballet with modern dance, waltzes, moonwalks, acrobatics and dozens of other styles to fill the stage with constant movement.
Michael Jackson, Executive Producer, became involved with the production when Larry Hart, who conceived, wrote the book, music and lyrics, and who also stars in the show, presented the original music tracks to him. Michael saw the potential of Sisterella's music and immediately acquired the soundtrack rights and signed Larry Hart to a solo record deal.
In November, 1996, Sisterella won 8 NAACP Theatre Awards (out of 12 nominations), more than any other production: Best Play, Best Director (David Simmons), Best Musical Director (Matthew Sklar), Best Set Design (Gary Wissman), Best Supporting Performance Actor (Ralph Cole, Jr.), Best Performance Actress (Yvette Cason), Best Costumes (Pasquale Spezzano), Best Choreographer (Raymond G. del Barrio).
Does the RIAA certification for number of albums shipped in the US go by CDs or boxed sets? Does the same rule apply for worldwide sales?
For RIAA certification, which is based on shipments to retailers, not actual sales, a 2-CD set may be counted as one or two, depending on the number of minutes in the total package and whether it is considered a "boxed set". Sony has determined that HIStory is a boxed set, as it has 150 minutes of music, so each CD within the set is counted separately for certification. For HIStory, therefore, a certification of 6 million (6x Platinum) means that 3 million boxed sets of HIStory were shipped to retailers. (from Billboard)
However, the HIStory 2-CD boxed set is counted as one for actual sales in the US. Soundscan receives its sales information from retail outlets, where an automated system registers each time an album is sold. All albums have a Universal Product Code (UPC), and it is this barcode that registers the sale. A 2-CD boxed set has one UPC code and thus is counted as one unit. (from Soundscan)
Worldwide sales are counted only by boxed set, so 14 million worldwide sales of HIStory means 14 million 2-CD boxed sets (or 28 million if each disk is counted singly).
Was Michael sued for copyright infringement over the song "Dangerous"?
Yes. Crystal Cartier from Denver, Colorado accused MJ of stealing her song by the same title, which she had copyrighted in 1985. However, she was unable to locate an original tape of her song for the court, and the version she produced did not sound much like MJ's song. Michael testified on February 14, 1994, giving convincing details of his songwriting process and demonstrating his incredible ability to bring a song to life with just his voice box. As reported by BET, Cartier lost and was denied the chance to appeal. Printed or taped court transcripts may be ordered directly from the Colorado courts for $12.00.
Was Michael sued for copyright infringement over other songs and what was the result of the lawsuits?
Yes, Michael Jackson has been sued for copyright infingement over the following songs, but he has WON ALL of these lawsuits.
Jan. 1994 - A federal jury in California found that Michael (and others named in the lawsuit) did not copy anyone, in the composition of "We Are the World," "Thriller," and "The Girl Is Mine." This suit was originally filed in 1983.
Feb. 1994 - A songwriter from Denver, Colorado sued Michael, claiming that he copied her song, when he composed "Dangerous." A jury found Michael to be innocent of these claims.
Jan. 1998 - Lawsuit involving "Will You Be There" brought by Italian singer Bano. Italian panel of judges ruled that Michael did not copy Bano's song and Bano was ordered to pay Michael for all legal fees.
When did Michael buy the Beatles songs and for how much? Did he recently sell them to Sony to solve a cash-flow problem? Does he own his own songs?
MJ bought the ATV catalog of publishing rights, which includes 250 Beatles songs, on September 6, 1985, for a reported $47 million. Since then, he greatly increased its worth by acquiring the publishing rights to many more songs. ATV Music Publishing, owner of over 4000 songs, was said to have had 1993 revenues of $30 million, making it worth more than $400 million. It owned the copyrights to songs by the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Lloyd Price, and the Pointer Sisters, among others. According to Reuters, "a song earns money for both its writer and copyright owner each time it sells on a recorded format, is played on the radio or covered by another artist." Also, the copyright owner can license the songs to movie studios and advertisers for considerable money.
In 1995, after year-long negotiations, MJ merged the ATV Music Publishing Company with Sony Music Publishing, creating Sony/ATV Music Publishing, now the third-largest music publishing company in the world. It was not a sale. MJ retains 50% ownership of the new company and received at least $110 million dollars from Sony for the deal, in part because ATV owns 100% of the rights to most of its songs (including the Beatles songs), whereas Sony's income arises from co-publishing or administration. Sony/ATV is worth an estimated $500 million to $1 billion, having, in addition to the ATV catalog, publishing relationships with such artists as Bob Dylan, Nile Rogers, Mariah Carey, Neil Diamond, and Conway Twitty. Sony will control the new company day-to-day, with a board of directors drawn equally from Sony and Michael Jackson representatives. The ATV songs will continue to be administered by EMI Music Publishing until 1998, when they will revert to Sony/ATV. MJ's own songs, which belong to his Mijac Music Publishing, are not affected by the deal and continue to be administered by Warner Chappell or Warner Tamerlane.
The rumors that MJ merged his ATV catalog with Sony in order to solve a cash-flow problem are false and were begun by a speculative November, 1995 article in Newsweek that theorized that the child-molestation settlement and various lawsuits had left him short of liquid assets, and that he therefore pursued the merger for the sake of the $100 million he would receive. The story was quickly picked up by USA Today and the US tabloid TV shows "Hard Copy" and "A Current Affair". The speculation was contradicted by an expert from Forbes magazine who appeared on E! and by MJ and his lawyer John Branca, who gave an 11/9/95 interview to USA Today to say that cash flow was not a factor. Michael said, "It's just a great move, a corporate, entrepreneurial thing to do...It's smart business. It's about growth. Everything in life to me is about growth." MJ is reported to be interested in buying the Motown catalog next. (from Reuters, Billboard, Business Wire, Newsweek, USA Today)
Does Michael own his own songs?
Michael owns copyrights to his own songs. His songs are published under his company Mijac Music Publishing and are administered by Warner Chappell or Warner Tamerlane.