Though he passed away nearly a decade ago, on June 25th, 2009, Michael Jackson continues to rake in the album and single money in impressive posthumous fashion. His entire catalogue still generates tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue, making him one of the all-time most profitable entities in the music business. With this in mind, there's no doubt that Sony Music are happy to have agreed on a contract extension with the singer's estate.
The deal, according to Billboard, will continue a relationship that has spanned nearly four decades, from when Michael released his first solo album, the excellent Off The Wall, in 1979. The company should continue to see a nice return on this investment, with Jackson's streaming numbers totaling around 1.05 billion plays, with 443 million audio streams and 608 million video streams leaving a sizable digital footprint. However, Sony is not content to just sit on their goldmine and reach into it from time to time - they want to showcase the legend's music in a whole new way to future fans.
"Michael Jackson was an unsurpassed genius and an iconic force in music entertainment," Rob Stringer, Sony Music's CEO, said in a statement. "The music -- and videos -- he made as an artist as part of the Sony Music family are essential to pop culture history. We're proud to be part of that history, and to find new innovative ways to make Michael's music available to future generations of fans." As part of the deal, the company will also have a hand in any additional projects that the estate decides to move ahead with, such as the recent Cirque Du Soleil show that was built around Jackson's music.
What kind of new interpretation of Michael Jackson's music would you like to see? Let us know in the comments.