Michael Jackson Estate to Sell Catalog for Up to $900 Million

Classic artists have turned a pretty penny in recent years by selling the rights to their music catalogs, but the Michael Jackson estate might set a new record if a new Variety report is accurate. According to the trade, those in charge of the late artist’s affairs are working to sell half of their interests in Jackson’s discography for around $800 million to $900 million.

Variety say Sony and a possible financial partner are negotiating to acquire 50% of the Jackson estate’s interests in a number of the artist’s sources of income, including his musical catalog, publishing, the MJ: The Musical Broadway show, and the upcoming biopic Michael. 

Primary Wave Music reportedly already owns a stake in Jackson’s publishing, but it makes sense for Sony to push for its own piece of the pie. The company has been a major buyer of music catalogs in recent years, acquiring Bruce Springsteen’s catalog and publishing for $500 million and Bob Dylan’s catalog for around $200 million.

What’s more, Sony and its previous owner, CBS, owned all of Jackson’s catalog throughout his solo career, and Sony Music Publishing merged with the Jackson-owned ATV Music in 1995. In 2016, Sony Corp. purchased the Jackson estate’s 50% stake in the joint venture for $750 million, and two years later, it acquired their 25.1% stake in EMI Publishing in $287.5 million. By 2018, Sony was the sole owner of both Sony/ATV and EMI.