For Michael Jackson’s family, news of an upcoming catalog sale must be, well, a whodunnit.
Pun aside, Variety reports, citing three sources, that Jackson’s estate is “selling half of its interests in the legendary singer’s music catalog in a deal in the range of $800-900 million.”
Details are still unclear, but the outlet reports that Sony, along with another possible backer, is working to acquire the domain’s half interest in its publishing, recorded music revenue, comedy Broadway musical and the upcoming biopic (which is expected to feature Jackson’s nephew Jaafar).
According Variety, the sale is said to be the biggest deal yet among the many recent catalog sales by renowned artists. Artists who have recently sold out their catalogs include Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Justin Bieber, Dr. Dre, the Killers and many more. Springsteen’s catalog sold for $600 million as part of a deal with Sony, while Dylan’s sold for around $150 million.
Jackson’s music is one of the most lucrative in popular music. His 1982 album, Polar, is one of the two best-selling albums of all time. It was also the first album to be certified 30 times platinum. Jackson died in 2009 at the age of 50.
This isn’t the first time Sony and Jackson’s estate have done business since the King of Pop’s death nearly 15 years ago. Writing Variety“In 2016, Sony Corp. entered into a $750 million deal with the Estate to acquire Jackson’s Estate’s 50% interest in their joint venture, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which they had formed in 1995. 2018, Sony disclosed in an earnings report that as part of its $2.3 billion acquisition of EMI Music Publishing, it acquired Jackson’s estate’s 25.1% stake in that company for $287.5 million.
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