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Michael Jackson Song Catalog Will Moonwalk to Sony/ATV Publishing

Two questions.

First, Mijac has always been owned by Michael. So, Mijac's ownership is not changing hands. Only the administrative rights are moved from Warner to Sony/ATB, right?

Second, why would Michael have Warner, instead of his own publishing company, to adinister his own catalog?
 
love is magical said:
Two questions.

First, Mijac has always been owned by Michael. So, Mijac's ownership is not changing hands. Only the administrative rights are moved from Warner to Sony/ATB, right?
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Yes, I believe Mijac Publishing was owned by Michael..And now I believe it is under full control of the estate (correct me if I'm wrong ppl ;) )

love is magical said:
Second, why would Michael have Warner, instead of his own publishing company, to adinister his own catalog?
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I'm not 100% sure on that. Perhaps he felt that it be able to give him more options..Or perhaps Warner was willing to administer the songs at a smaller fee..Just some guesses..
 
That's just the first step until $ony will own both of MJ's catalogues! They always wanted them and still want them. And they will do anything to get them! Because that's where the big money is, not album sales or whatever!
Doesn't it make you wonder why Warner was responsible while MJ lived???? Not a bit???
 
The Estate benefits from this venture massively-the slice of the royalties that went to Warner will now go to Sony/ATV so basically the Estate is pretty much collecting almost 100% of the royalities now from Michael's own music. Its a good move financially and one that seems that Michael had been wanting to make years ago.
 
I personally think MJ would be pissed off that Sony had rights to his catalog...but that's my opinion
 
Brilliant news! Thank you for posting. The only way Sony will get Michael's catalogue if the Estate sell it to Sony (Am I correct on that?). Which I don't think they would, the Estate would lose so much money. Right now they are very rich.
 
Sophielo said:
The Estate benefits from this venture massively-the slice of the royalties that went to Warner will now go to Sony/ATV so basically the Estate is pretty much collecting almost 100% of the royalities now from Michael's own music. Its a good move financially and one that seems that Michael had been wanting to make years ago.
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right, but if it was such a good deal, why MJ didn't do it years ago? Wasn't he having cash flow problems or something like that? Some dare to say he was broken.... broken my... sorry... broken my nails :smilerolleyes:... so why where does all this about he being forced to work so hard or he will lose everything??

I really don't understand a bit :unsure:
 
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^^maybe warner didn't wanted to make that deal since they getting profits from his songs
 
Guys doesnt this mean that sony have the rights to the beatles catalouge and all that...???

and im sure that was something michael did not want to happen
 
but if this is true then why didnt he add his mijac to sony/atv when he was alive?
 
Yes, finally they took her skin, her catalog and all cash for everything and anything from marketing. We lost him and Michael lost everything including their lives to defend their heritage, the work of a lifetime ... What I want to light a bonfire and burn to see their souls and rot their huts! I hate them, I cursed!

Why he has not sold, I do not know. For her children. I am also saying that he could not sell it, at least not as he wished. It was "stuck". THEY would have taken him for a pittance, or under certain conditions ... completely degrading. Or to elicit ANY unconditionally. Michael has suffered betrayals. How can we trust in this case? He had confidence in his own talents, so he did or rather tried to do "This Is It" with the end as we know everyone. (That is, the circle is complete. How far will they go? I hope they pay, checkout one day. Karma or something.
 
IDRAG4MJ said:
but if this is true then why didnt he add his mijac to sony/atv when he was alive?
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I had the same question. It seems since Michael's death, Sony slowly take control of Michael's everything. I know if Michael was still alive, this would never happened.
 
loveforever said:
I had the same question. It seems since Michael's death, Sony slowly take control of Michael's everything. I know if Michael was still alive, this would never happened.
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It most likely wouldnt happen as michael wouldnt let it happen. This is why mjs death is all too fishy to me as i belive there's a whole lot of ppl involved.
 
Justice_MJ said:
That's just the first step until $ony will own both of MJ's catalogues! They always wanted them and still want them. And they will do anything to get them! Because that's where the big money is, not album sales or whatever!
Doesn't it make you wonder why Warner was responsible while MJ lived???? Not a bit???
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loveforever said:
I had the same question. It seems since Michael's death, Sony slowly take control of Michael's everything. I know if Michael was still alive, this would never happened.
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8701girl said:
It most likely wouldnt happen as michael wouldnt let it happen. This is why mjs death is all too fishy to me as i belive there's a whole lot of ppl involved.
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I agree with all these posts & they raise great questions. MJ hated Sony.
 
Guys let's do a Publishing 101 class here

First let's understand music - a songwriter / composer writes a song. He owns his song.

A musician deserves to be paid when his song is played. Radios have to pay royalties when they play a song, TV programs has to pay licensing fees when they use the song in their shows etc.

How will the musician collect these royalties / licenses , these money that he's supposed to get from the people that play/use his songs? Is he going to go door by door and ask them to pay him?

No. It's impossible for a musician to do this.

What happens is a musician forms a "catalog" and agrees with a "publishing" firm. Musician says to the Publishing firm "please collect the money I deserve from my song catalog and I'll give you a part of the money (anywhere between 20-50%) for the job you do".

So the "publishing" firm manages the catalog, it collects the money, gives a part of the money to the musician and takes a good fee for the work they do.

So in short Sony/ATV and Michael doesn't own the Beatles songs, they manage the publishing rights of the songs and get a percentage of royalties from the songs. In other words Lennon/McCarthy owns the Beatles songs but Michael gets a share every time someone buys/ plays/ uses a Beatles song.

Similarly Warner didn't own Michael's songs, they managed publishing rights an got paid for it - a high fee (anywhere around 20-50%) as the article says.

and Sony/ ATV won't own Michael's songs , they'll just manage publishing rights.

Now let's do some math - Assume that Michael earned each year $100M from his songs and the publishing firm got 40%.

With Warner - Michael would have gotten $60M and Warner would gotten $40M.

Assume the same scenario with Sony/ ATV.

Michael would have gotten $60M and Sony/ATV would gotten $40M.

but guess what Michael has 50% share in Sony/ATV so he gets 50% of what Sony/ATV makes - in this case he would have gotten in 50% of $40M

So if Sony/ATV manages his catalog Michael would get $80M and Sony would be left with $20M.

Does this make it clear now?


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IDRAG4MJ said:
but if this is true then why didnt he add his mijac to sony/atv when he was alive?
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Probably when he made the publishing deal with Warner , Warner was afraid that he'll take his catalog to his own Sony/ATV and they put a clause like he couldn't take the catalog from them until the 10th album etc. So the new releases can satisfy this clause in the contract and allow them take the catalog from Warner.

plus the article mentions the loan. as his catalog was used as collateral that might have stopped the move.
 
Thank you for the explanation, Ivy. I agree that this isn't a bad thing at all. If true, it is actually a very smart financial move.
 
I hate that people are commenting on something they don't even understand.

Educate yourself FIRST...otherwise it looks foolish and annoying.

Ivy, thank you for schooling them.

Google is your friend...don't be stranger.
 
CherubimII said:
I believe in the future Michael Jackson's Catelogue will be worth much more the Beatles Catelogue; because, Micheal's music is so more diverse and vital. (i.e. Better :cheeky:)
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Although I don't personally like the Beatles, I'd have to say that they [as a band] and Michael as a solo artist, in terms of talent and popularity, are pretty much well-matched, so I don't know if it will be worth much more than the Beatles catalogue. However, I can't see into the future any more than you can, so my hypothesis is merely speculation.
 
From reading the opening post it said this arrangement was made years earlier meaning to me Michael knew about it and once "Michael"cd was released that the deal took into effect. Michael owns his catalogue and he owns 50% of Sony/ATV so half of the royalties that Sony/ATV gets goes to Michael plus what he would get for his music. It's sounds very good.
 
Thanks Ivy. In short, Michael owns Mijac and entered into a contract with Warner Publishing. As a result, Michael and Warner split the royalty income accordingly. Lennon/McCartney own the Beatles catalog and Sony/ATV has the right to publish the songs and split the royalty income.

Just for my curiosity, why Michael did not let Sony/ATV administer Mijac? I mean why split the income with Warner instead of his own publishing company?
 
Maybe when he purchased the sony catalogue he was already in a deal with Warner? I am not sure but it sounds like the deal he had with Warner would eventually lead into this. The estate will make more money now.
 
love is magical;3252997 said:
Just for my curiosity, why Michael did not let Sony/ATV administer Mijac? I mean why split the income with Warner instead of his own publishing company?
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marebear;3253007 said:
Maybe when he purchased the sony catalogue he was already in a deal with Warner? I am not sure but it sounds like the deal he had with Warner would eventually lead into this. The estate will make more money now.
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I found this "Jackson used the equity in his own catalog, MIJAC, along with the acquired assets and future income to be derived from Northern Songs, for loan qualification -- with the newly acquired assets structured for equity to flow toward servicing the debt. "

So it means the used his catalog as collateral to get the $47.5M loan to purchase the Northern Songs (Beatles) catalog in 1985. It would make sense that his catalog was already being managed by someone by then.

Edit: Yes I found in Thriller inner notes that MIJAC was being managed by Warner in 1982 (see below) so yes the agreement between MJ and MIJAC was before his purchase of Northern songs and formation of Sony/ATV.

6. Billie Jean*
(By Michael Jackson)
Greg Phillinganes: Synthesizer
Greg Smith: Synthesizer
Bill Wolfer: Synthesizer, Synthesizer Programming
Dean Parks: Guitar
Louis Johnson: Bass
Ndugu Chancler: Drums
Michael Boddicker: Emulator

Vocal, Rhythm and Synthesizer arrangement by Michael Jackson
String arrangement by Jerry Hey
Strings conducted by Jeremy Lubbock
© 1982 Mijac Music (BMI) Administered by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Edit: There's no mention of Mijac at Off the wall (1979). so I guess it was established between 1979 and 1982 and the publishing deal with warner was signed that time. Michael bought Northern Songs in 1985 and the merger with Sony happened in 1995. Apparently now the number of albums released and/or loan being paid is allowing them to move the catalog from Warner.
 
love is magical said:
Just for my curiosity, why Michael did not let Sony/ATV administer Mijac? I mean why split the income with Warner instead of his own publishing company?
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The news said Warner has songs like Billie Jean and Beat it. I guess the MJ and Warner had deal in early 80s already. He purchased ATV in late 80s. I guess that's why.
However, I don't know why he didn't make the deal with other SONY publsihing company. Maybe Warner give him better offer or he just didn't want to put all eggs in the same basket.
 
how long the contract for catalog administration usually last?

obviously, i know very little about music publishing and i definitely would like to learn more.

i found it interesting that how people always said Michael "owns" the Beatles catalog. John Branca mentioned Michale "wanted those songs."

but, in fact, Michael didn't really own the songs. he just ownend the right to publish the songs. Can the artist switch to another publisher? Is there any review and renewal process?
 
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