Hulkamaniac;4291945 said:
^Why so butthurt tho? We are free to give opinions about anything. Bad 25 had no major impact because it was widely pirated on on fan forums, can you believe that? It's some of y'all fault for not supporting the good official releases.
I just find the sense of entitlement to be distasteful. I'm certainly not against criticizing the Estate for their shortcomings, but every move they make gets torn to pieces, no matter how irrelevant. It's not really a surprise that they don't consistently issue projects; fans are becoming greedy.
ozemouze;4291973 said:
Thanks for the input, I certainly don't know anything about the business side of things so I'm happy to learn more about it, but I still have some questions (if some may sound naive please bear with me):
- Like it's been said, Bad 25 sales were affected by piracy, but I guess it's not much different for the whole music industry now, so that's something that should be taken into account. Plus, there's definitely a change in the way people listen to music now, e.g. I also prefer digital formats over physical copies (except for vinyls, but that's not for the general public anyway), and I've never been a collector despite being a fan (sure, I collect the music, but not e.g. different covers or merchandises). However, I'll certainly buy new material. Couldn't releasing content in digital-format-only be the way to go? Just provide more and more content, without expensive marketing campaign, just make it easily affordable (meaning price and format as well).
- I know about the limited number of the completely finished songs, and I'm aware not even the majority of fans share my views, but...: I don't think everything released has to be polished, moreover, demos, songs in work-in-progress state, even "ideas" could be a very interesting sneak preview into MJ's creating process. Instead of employing expensive producers to "rework" the songs, they could release materials as they are (well-mastered though), collecting them around some intriguing concept (e.g. the evolution of songs during the years/decades), perhaps interview others about the content, cooperate with MJ researchers/biographers to give a frame to the context, etc.
I talk from experience regarding this, one of my fav band tragically lost its lead singer/songwriter in an accident, leaving behind demos with musical ideas, some quite complete but all without lyrics, just with humming - they were released eventually and it's fascinating material.
- As for History itself perhaps there's a momentum now, when people turn to Earth Song and (sadly) TDCAU due to the recent state of affairs, the Estate should react in some way IMO. Not with the intent of profiting from it, just respond to the call, e.g. release these videos in HD on youtube for free. Like you said, the Estate's job is also to preserve MJ's legacy, including his message, and he certainly would react in some way if he was still here. A reaction like this wouldn't require big budget, months of planning, marketing strategy or anything, only some creativity. That's what the Estate is lacking now IMO, and the criticism for this is justified.
I appreciate the response!
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B25's failure wasn't due to piracy. Illegal file-sharing affects pretty much everything, from music to film, and yet very few are vigorously affected.
Xscape was also widely pirated by fans and the general public, yet it posted excellent first-week sales and went on to become one of Sony's best-selling albums worldwide in 2014. Album reissues seldom perform well no matter the artist, which is why most aren't given elaborate treatments.
B25 lagged because it was surely one of the most exhaustive re-releases ever — a remastered original album, six newly-mixed-and-mastered outtakes, two remixes (one featuring a GRAMMY-nominated rapper), a newly-mixed-and-mastered live album, a visually-upgraded DVD fostered by a NASA-affiliated company, a documentary spearheaded by one of the most influential directors of modern history and featuring several A-list recording artists, and a global collaboration with Pepsi. This is more intricate than most studio albums receive, so its performance can only be seen as disappointing.
As far as streaming goes, the Estate was working towards a series of digital-only, one-off single releases with a "top-secret producer" (presumed by many to be Mark Ronson) in late 2018. Then came
Leaving Neverland and the consequent HBO lawsuit, delays and postponements relating to the forthcoming Broadway show, potential civil appeals vis-a-vis Robson/Safechuck, and the COVID-19 crisis — all costly endeavors, whether financially or time-wise. Sure, the Estate could hustle forward with the singles plan, but that is still several thousand dollars in fees for producers, musicians, mixing services, mastering services, and digital design, on top of the finances already being funneled into the aforementioned projects.
- I completely agree that an album modeled around demos of already-released songs would be incredible. But again, while it may seem like a simple endeavor to us outsiders, the Estate's current priority is likely not to spend money on new music; it's to funnel funds into the best legal representation possible for the ongoing court cases and to resurrect a Broadway production that has endured a chaotic production process.
- Again, I wholeheartedly agree that an HD release of Michael's short films on YouTube (specifically "Earth Song" and the prison version of "They Don't Care About Us") would be an incredible way to capitalize on the current social climate.
I'm not some pro-Estate advocate that feels they are above criticism; I've had plenty of choice words for them over the years. However, I feel this community has devolved into an undeserved level of entitlement: "We want it and the Estate has it, so there's no reason they shouldn't give it to us!" That's simply not how it works. I just feel as though we could give them a goddamn break, ESPECIALLY given the circumstances.
