New Jackson songs to be released but with "no rush"
'No rush' for new Jackson songs
By Rodrigo Davies
6 Music News reporter
New music recorded by Michael Jackson before his death is likely to be released - but not yet, the president of his record label Epic has said.
"We just want to pay our respects to Michael," Amanda Ghost said: "We don't want to be seen to be jumping on any bandwagon associated with his death."
Jackson had been working on new music for several years with hip-hop and R&B stars like Will.i.am, Ne-Yo and Akon.
"The appetite is definitely there" for new material, Ghost told BBC 6 Music.
"If we do release anything of unreleased material, it has to be fantastic and it can't damage in any way his legacy or his legend and I won't let that happen at Epic.
"I have no idea when it's coming out, but it will come out on Sony/Epic. We haven't made any decisions because we just want to be respectful for his memory and not be seen in any way as trying to cash in."
The release of new music is also likely to be delayed as legal negotiations over his estate.
Earlier this week, a Los Angeles judge gave control to his lawyer John Branca and music executive John McClain, rejecting a claim by Jackson's mother Katherine.
Instrumental album
Bruce Swedien, a producer and engineer who worked on Off The Wall and Thriller, has said he believed Jackson was working on instrumental music as well as a pop album.
Ghost, best known for her work as a producer and writer with the likes of Beyonce, Shakira and James Blunt, is the first recording artist to be appointed head of a major label.
She first met Jackson in February this year when presenting him with an award for being the label's biggest selling artist.
"I walked up to him and said 'Hi, I'm the president of Epic,' and he said 'Wow, things have changed since I was there,'" Ghost said.
"He knew my work and he thought it was fantastic that a creative had been put in charge."
US music sales tracker Nielsen SoundScan has revealed that 800,000 copies of Jackson's albums were bought last week - almost double sales for the previous week.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/8143071.stm