At the time of his death last June, Michael Jackson was reportedly deeply in debt and had agreed to sign on for an unprecedented 50-date run at the O2 arena in London, as a means of turning his financial fortunes around.
But thanks to a flurry of merchandising deals and a flood of nostalgia-fueled music sales, his estate has generated nearly $1 billion in the past year,Billboard reports via Reuters.
Billboard broke down the source of that windfall, determining that nearly half of it came from the robust music sales following the singer's shock death on June 25, 2009. Jackson has sold 9 million albums in the U.S. and 24 million around the globe since his death, along with around 800,000 copies of albums by the Jackson 5 and the Jacksons. Assuming a worldwide retail sales price of $11.62 per unit, the magazine estimated that the Jackson catalog brought in about $383 million in sales.
Add in 12.9 million track downloads in the U.S. over the past year, along with 26.5 million in international downloads, and you have another $34 million. Then there's about 1.5 million in ringtone sales in America, another 3 million globally for another $5 million, as well as $2 million from digital performance royalties from music subscription services and $4.5 million from global digital performances for a music total of $429 million.
The second biggest source of revenue was TV and movie projects, led by the "Michael Jackson: This Is It" documentary about the singer's final rehearsals for his planned London shows. Sony Pictures paid $60 million for the rights to the film, which earned $72 million at the box office to become the highest-grossing concert film ever. It earned an additional $188 million overseas, while the DVD of the film raked in $43 million in the U.S., as well as $24 million in rental income. It earned $18 million just in Japan on the first day of release and another $7 million in Blu-Ray sales.
Billboard also speculated that the sales of the TV rights to "This Is It" to Viacom (the parent company of MTV) may have generated an additional $15 million, and licensing fees for nontheatrical performances (airplanes, cruise ships, hotels) could bring in around $24 million.
One of Jackson's traditional cash cows, his music publishing rights, was another lucrative source of income, taking in nearly $130 million. The singer's Mijac publishing company — with an estimated value of $75 million in 2005 — has a current value of around $150 million, generating around $25 million a year in revenue, with that number possibly doubling to $50 million in the past year. Jackson's half ownership of the lucrative Sony/ATV catalog could be worth as much as an additional $80 million a year.
The executors of Jackson's estate have cut a series of deals over the past year, resulting in around $35 million in additional revenue. Because many fans declined to return their tickets to the London This Is It shows, preferring to retain them as keepsakes, those tickets were worth $6.5 million, along with around $5 million in concert merchandise sales; a second deal with merchandise maker Bravado cut in August reportedly included a $10 million advance. A Jackson memorabilia exhibit in Japan has earned $3.5 million. And additional licensing royalties and retail sales could have rolled up $10 million or more for the estate.
It is not known how much game-maker Ubisoft paid to license Jackson's image for an upcoming video game or what potential revenues could be from a pair of upcoming Jackson-themed Cirque du Soleil shows.
Finally, even in death Jackson has one of the most lucrative recording contracts around. Sony Music Entertainment cut a deal in March with the estate to release 10 Jackson albums through 2017. From a collection of previously unreleased Jackson songs due in November to reissues of such landmark albums as 1979's solo debut, Off the Wall, the estate is guaranteed between $200 and $250 million for the Sony pact. Though none of the albums have been released yet, if just one of the contract's eight years comes off as planned, it could add $31 million to the estate's coffers.
Celebrate Michael Jackson's legacy all week long as MTV News looks back at his life, his music and the death that shook the world one year ago.
But thanks to a flurry of merchandising deals and a flood of nostalgia-fueled music sales, his estate has generated nearly $1 billion in the past year,Billboard reports via Reuters.
Billboard broke down the source of that windfall, determining that nearly half of it came from the robust music sales following the singer's shock death on June 25, 2009. Jackson has sold 9 million albums in the U.S. and 24 million around the globe since his death, along with around 800,000 copies of albums by the Jackson 5 and the Jacksons. Assuming a worldwide retail sales price of $11.62 per unit, the magazine estimated that the Jackson catalog brought in about $383 million in sales.
Add in 12.9 million track downloads in the U.S. over the past year, along with 26.5 million in international downloads, and you have another $34 million. Then there's about 1.5 million in ringtone sales in America, another 3 million globally for another $5 million, as well as $2 million from digital performance royalties from music subscription services and $4.5 million from global digital performances for a music total of $429 million.
The second biggest source of revenue was TV and movie projects, led by the "Michael Jackson: This Is It" documentary about the singer's final rehearsals for his planned London shows. Sony Pictures paid $60 million for the rights to the film, which earned $72 million at the box office to become the highest-grossing concert film ever. It earned an additional $188 million overseas, while the DVD of the film raked in $43 million in the U.S., as well as $24 million in rental income. It earned $18 million just in Japan on the first day of release and another $7 million in Blu-Ray sales.
Billboard also speculated that the sales of the TV rights to "This Is It" to Viacom (the parent company of MTV) may have generated an additional $15 million, and licensing fees for nontheatrical performances (airplanes, cruise ships, hotels) could bring in around $24 million.
One of Jackson's traditional cash cows, his music publishing rights, was another lucrative source of income, taking in nearly $130 million. The singer's Mijac publishing company — with an estimated value of $75 million in 2005 — has a current value of around $150 million, generating around $25 million a year in revenue, with that number possibly doubling to $50 million in the past year. Jackson's half ownership of the lucrative Sony/ATV catalog could be worth as much as an additional $80 million a year.
The executors of Jackson's estate have cut a series of deals over the past year, resulting in around $35 million in additional revenue. Because many fans declined to return their tickets to the London This Is It shows, preferring to retain them as keepsakes, those tickets were worth $6.5 million, along with around $5 million in concert merchandise sales; a second deal with merchandise maker Bravado cut in August reportedly included a $10 million advance. A Jackson memorabilia exhibit in Japan has earned $3.5 million. And additional licensing royalties and retail sales could have rolled up $10 million or more for the estate.
It is not known how much game-maker Ubisoft paid to license Jackson's image for an upcoming video game or what potential revenues could be from a pair of upcoming Jackson-themed Cirque du Soleil shows.
Finally, even in death Jackson has one of the most lucrative recording contracts around. Sony Music Entertainment cut a deal in March with the estate to release 10 Jackson albums through 2017. From a collection of previously unreleased Jackson songs due in November to reissues of such landmark albums as 1979's solo debut, Off the Wall, the estate is guaranteed between $200 and $250 million for the Sony pact. Though none of the albums have been released yet, if just one of the contract's eight years comes off as planned, it could add $31 million to the estate's coffers.
Celebrate Michael Jackson's legacy all week long as MTV News looks back at his life, his music and the death that shook the world one year ago.
you know i think Michael really wanted to change the world. you can tell because of his songs like man in the mirror,heal the heal world,earth song,black or white,and they don't care about us. and it is so sad that he pasted and when i looked at the video they don't care about us i really started to cry becuase is was so happy to see all the people that loved him and saw him. i mean he was and still the king of pop. i mean Michael had kids,family, and fans and Michael song you are not alone in so meaningful atfer his death. :( I LOVE YOU MICHAEL!!!
Bass note, treble, stereo control, how low you go
Just enough to make your juices flow
Press play, don't stop, rotate, too hot
You feel I'm real
I'm everything you need, so tell me what's the deal
Chorus
2000 Watts, 8 ohms, 200 volts, real strong
Too much of that, fuse blown
Be careful what you say don't overload
2000 Watts, 8 ohms, 200 volts, real strong
Too much of that, fuse blown
Be careful what you say don't overload
3D, high speed, feedback, Dolby
Release two or three, when I reach I can go 'till I hit my peak
Compact steelo, chico, D-Lo, highpost lady
Shorty really wanna be there for me
Chorus
2000 Watts, 8 ohms, 200 volts, real strong
Too much of that, fuse blown
Be careful what you say don't overload
2000 Watts, 8 ohms, 200 volts, real strong
Too much of that, fuse blown
Just enough to make your juices flow
Press play, don't stop, rotate, too hot
You feel I'm real
I'm everything you need, so tell me what's the deal
Chorus
2000 Watts, 8 ohms, 200 volts, real strong
Too much of that, fuse blown
Be careful what you say don't overload
2000 Watts, 8 ohms, 200 volts, real strong
Too much of that, fuse blown
Be careful what you say don't overload
3D, high speed, feedback, Dolby
Release two or three, when I reach I can go 'till I hit my peak
Compact steelo, chico, D-Lo, highpost lady
Shorty really wanna be there for me
Chorus
2000 Watts, 8 ohms, 200 volts, real strong
Too much of that, fuse blown
Be careful what you say don't overload
2000 Watts, 8 ohms, 200 volts, real strong
Too much of that, fuse blown
There were no albums bigger than Thriller and Bad, and Jackson seemed to be just entering his prime as an artist.
In hindsight, considering the astonishing heights he hit in the 1980s, maybe there was nowhere to go but down. On top of the world profeessionally, his persional affairs increasingly came under the microscope and seemed to gradually bleed the life and vibrancy out of the mercurial artist.
The new decade sarted off with Jackson in the studio, recording his new album, Dangerous. Jackson had recently signed a 15-years, six-record deal with sony, and if the singer was able to deliver sales numbers comparable to what he posted in the 1980s, the deal was estimated to have an earing power of up to $1 billion.
Dangerous got off to a great start-it debuted at number one and quickly outpaced the sales of Bad.
There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all
We can't go on pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of God's great big family
And the truth, you know,
Love is all we need
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me
Send them your heart so they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stones to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand
When you're down and out, there seems no hope at all
But if you just believe there's no way we can fall
Let us realize that a change can only come
When we stand together as one
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all
We can't go on pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of God's great big family
And the truth, you know,
Love is all we need
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me
Send them your heart so they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stones to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand
When you're down and out, there seems no hope at all
But if you just believe there's no way we can fall
Let us realize that a change can only come
When we stand together as one
Girlfriend
I'm gonna tell your boyfriend (yeah)
Tell him (woo hoo)
Exactly what we're doin' (yeah)
Tell him what you do to me
Late at night when the wind is free
Girlfriend
I'm gonna show your boyfriend (yeah)
Show him (woo hoo)
The letters I've been savin' (yeah)
Show him how you feel inside
An' how love could not be denied (oh no)
We're gonna have to tell him
You'll only be a girlfriend of mine
Do-doot-do, etc.
Girlfriend
You better tell your boyfriend (yeah)
Tell him (woo hoo)
Exactly what we're doin' (yeah)
Tell him what he needs to know
Or he may never let you go
Yeah we're gonna have to tell him
You'll only be a girlfriend of mine
Do-doot-do ...... ad lib to fade
I'm gonna tell your boyfriend (yeah)
Tell him (woo hoo)
Exactly what we're doin' (yeah)
Tell him what you do to me
Late at night when the wind is free
Girlfriend
I'm gonna show your boyfriend (yeah)
Show him (woo hoo)
The letters I've been savin' (yeah)
Show him how you feel inside
An' how love could not be denied (oh no)
We're gonna have to tell him
You'll only be a girlfriend of mine
Do-doot-do, etc.
Girlfriend
You better tell your boyfriend (yeah)
Tell him (woo hoo)
Exactly what we're doin' (yeah)
Tell him what he needs to know
Or he may never let you go
Yeah we're gonna have to tell him
You'll only be a girlfriend of mine
Do-doot-do ...... ad lib to fade
All you gotta do is just walk away and pass me by
Don't acknowledge my smile when I try to say hello to you, yeah
And all you gotta do is not answer my calls when
I'm trying to get through
To keep me wondering why, when all I can do is sigh
I just wanna touch you
Chorus
I just wanna touch and kiss
And I wish that I could be with you tonight
You give me butterflies inside, inside and I
All I gotta say is that I must be dreaming, can't be real
You're not here with me, still I can feel you near me
I caress you, let you taste us, just so blissful listen
I would give you anything baby, just make my dreams come true
Oh baby you give me butterflies
Chorus x 2
If you would take my hand, baby I would show you
Guide you to the light babe
If you would be my love, baby I will love you, love you
'Till the end of time
Chorus x 3
Don't acknowledge my smile when I try to say hello to you, yeah
And all you gotta do is not answer my calls when
I'm trying to get through
To keep me wondering why, when all I can do is sigh
I just wanna touch you
Chorus
I just wanna touch and kiss
And I wish that I could be with you tonight
You give me butterflies inside, inside and I
All I gotta say is that I must be dreaming, can't be real
You're not here with me, still I can feel you near me
I caress you, let you taste us, just so blissful listen
I would give you anything baby, just make my dreams come true
Oh baby you give me butterflies
Chorus x 2
If you would take my hand, baby I would show you
Guide you to the light babe
If you would be my love, baby I will love you, love you
'Till the end of time
Chorus x 3