Don’t stop till you get enough: Sony’s spends $919m for stake in Jackson’s catalogue

Sony Music has reportedly agreed to buy half of Michael Jackson’s back catalogue from his estate in the biggest ever deal for a single artist’s work.

Pop star Michael Jackson. Picture: AFP Photo/Vincent Amalvy

Sony Music has reportedly agreed to buy half of Michael Jackson’s back catalogue from his estate in the biggest ever deal for a single artist’s work. The deal will see the label buy a 50 per cent stake in Jackson’s recorded music and songwriting catalogues for about $US600m ($919m), according to The New York Times.

As well as his own hits – such as Bad, Beat It and Smooth Criminal - the deal includes rights to songs held by Mijac Music, his own music publisher, that also contains songs by the likes of Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles.

It means that the full Jackson collection is valued at more than $US1bn.

Not even his death 15 years ago can halt Jackson’s earning potential. Jackson’s estate – his mother, Katherine, 93, and his three children Paris, Prince and Blanket – will retain control in other businesses such as the West End musical MJ Live and MJ One, a Jackson-themed show organised by Cirque du Soleil.

Sony will also not receive revenues from an upcoming biographical film, Michael, due to be released next year.

Jackson died in 2009 in Los Angeles aged 50 after a prescription drug overdose. His doctor, Conrad Murray, was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter for giving him a powerful anaesthetic to help him sleep.

The Jackson deal is merely the latest in a long line that has allowed musicians to cash in by selling the rights to their songwriting and recorded music. Bruce Springsteen sold his entire catalogue to Sony for dollars 550 million in 2021, in what was at the time the largest such deal. Other stars to have done so include Bob Dylan, Sting, Neil Young and the David Bowie estate.

Catalogue deals are often structured to apportion how a song can be used by third parties, such as in adverts. Typically, artists or their estates forfeit all rights to how their music can be played but the Jackson deal is understood to have granted his family greater access and control over how his tunes can be used.

Jackson’s collection remains popular on streaming sites. His songs are played about 40 million times each month on Spotify. Jackson’s estate is understood to generate around dollars 75 million per year from the singer’s back catalogue.

THE SUNDAY TIMES