Sony/ATV Music Publishing and the Estate of Michael Jackson today announced a long-term extension of Sony/ATV's worldwide administration of Michael Jackson's extraordinary Mijac Music catalog. Founded by Michael Jackson in 1980 as his personal publishing company, Mijac Music grew to be one of the greatest catalogs in popular music, and includes - in addition to the universally acclaimed songs written by the King of Pop - the classic Sly and the Family Stone catalog and songs by the legendary Philadelphia soul team of Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff as well as songs made famous by other artists such as Ray Charles, Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin.
Sony/ATV Chairman and CEO Martin Bandier said: "Michael Jackson's Mijac catalog is one of the most significant and valuable in music. Michael's songwriting talents are respected and admired by everyone, but I also want to acknowledge his gifts as a smart businessman who put together an incredible catalog of classic songs. His Estate continues to further his vision and we are privileged to be the administrators of such an important collection of songs."
Commenting on the deal, John Branca and John McClain, co-executors of the Estate of Michael Jackson, remarked: "The incredible songs in the Mijac Music catalog showcase Michael's creative genius as a songwriter, and further, his acumen in understanding the creative and commercial value of these acclaimed third party songs. We trust in Martin Bandier's leadership and in his team. The music of the greatest entertainer that ever lived, Michael Jackson, is in the hands of the #1 publishing company in the world."
The Mijac catalog includes all of the songs written by the legendary King of Pop, Michael Jackson, including "Another Part Of Me," "Bad," "Beat It," "Billie Jean," "Black or White," "Can You Feel It," "Dangerous," "Dirty Diana," "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," "Earth Song," "Heal the World," "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," "Jam," Scream," "Smooth Criminal," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "They Don't Care About Us," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "We Are the World" and "Say Say Say" and "The Girl Of Mine," the latter two of which he recorded with Sir Paul McCartney.
Jackson's first acquisition in 1983 was the catalog of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame artist Sylvester Stewart, aka, Sly Stone. The catalog includes Sly and the
Family Stone hits such as "Dance To the Music," "Everybody is a Star," "Everyday People," "Family Affair," "Hot Fun in the Summertime," "Stand", and more.
Thereafter, Mijac went on to acquire some of the most iconic songs in rock, pop and soul music history, including "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now," "After Midnight," "Ease on Down the Road," "Great Balls of Fire," "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher," "I Got A Woman," "If You Don't Know Me By Now," "Love Train," "Mr. Bojangles," "People Get Ready," "Runaround Sue," "Shake, Rattle and Roll," "Sixteen Candles," "The Wanderer," "What'd I Say," "When a Man Loves a Woman" and "You Don't Know Me".
ABOUT SONY/ATV MUSIC PUBLISHING: Sony/ATV Music Publishing, established in 1995, is the world's leading music publisher. Sony/ATV Music Publishing owns or administers more than 3 million copyrights, including those of EMI Music Publishing and iconic music catalogs such as Leiber & Stoller, Mijac Music, Motown and Famous Music. Sony/ATV also controls many of the best known songs ever written such as "New York, New York", "Hallelujah", "All You Need Is Love", "You've Got a Friend", "Moon River", "Jailhouse Rock", "The Mission Impossible Theme", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "Over the Rainbow", "Stand By Me", "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" and "Singin' in the Rain". In addition, Sony/ATV represents the copyrights of such legendary artists as The Beatles, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Carole King, Kraftwerk, Joni Mitchell, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Richie Sambora, Sting, The Supremes, Wyclef Jean, Hank Williams and Stevie Wonder, among others. Its ever-growing list of chart-topping artists, writers and producers includes Avicii, The Chainsmokers, Drake, Calvin Harris, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, P!nk, Shakira, Ed Sheeran, Sia, Sam Smith, Stargate, Taylor Swift, Walk The Moon,
Kanye West and
Pharrell Williams.
ABOUT THE MICHAEL JACKSON ESTATE Following in Michael's footsteps, the Estate of Michael Jackson continues to produce artistically exceptional and enormously successful ventures. "Michael Jackson's This is It" became the highest grossing music documentary of all time. A history making touring show produced in partnership with Cirque du Soleil, Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour, played 4 continents, 157 cities, was seen by 3.7 million fans and became the #8 top grossing tour of all time. The second venture between the Estate and Cirque du Soleil, the critically acclaimed Michael Jackson ONE, a permanent show at Mandalay Bay Las Vegas, gave Cirque its biggest opening ever in Las Vegas and continues to be one of the top shows in the city. In 2014, The Estate astounded the world with the technical wizardry of a 'virtual Michael Jackson' performance during the Billboard Music Awards, which gave the show its biggest ratings in years and became the topic of conversation worldwide. That same year, Xscape, the second posthumous release of previously unreleased music by Michael Jackson, was released and became one of the top selling albums of 2014. In 2015,
Thriller became the first album in RIAA Gold & Platinum Program history to be certified 30X multi-Platinum for U.S. sales, continuing The King of Pop's reign as the biggest selling artist of all time with worldwide sales of over 100 million for
Thriller and 1 billion overall. In 2016, the Estate released the documentary MICHAEL JACKSON's
Journey From Motown To Off The Wall, directed by Spike Lee. The documentary made its world premiere at the
Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2016, and its subsequent broadcast on SHOWTIME® became the channel's highest rated music documentary of all time and its second highest rated documentary ever.
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