Sony Pays $250M For Michael Jackson Recordings

Nine months after his death, Sony is reportedly paying the the estate of Michael Jackson $250 million to release 10 recordings over the next seven years.

Included are two albums of unreleased songs, rights new new re-packages and the already released soundtrack for this is it.  In addition to the large advance, the deal is said to include a particularly large royalty rate both domestically and worldwide and includes a full array of licencing opportunities designed to promote and monetize Jackson long past his death.

“We think that recordings will always be an important part of the estate,” John Branca, an entertainment lawyer who is one of the estate’s executors told the New York Times. “New generations of kids are discovering Michael. A lot of the people that went to see ‘This Is It’ were families,” he added. " ‘This Is It’ was one of the few films allowed into China. So we think there are growing and untapped markets for Michael’s music.”