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Originally Posted by MJslostcousin  I did too! I dreamed I was watching the first This Is It! concert(July 13th) from the back. Everything he sang was live and electrifying! His dancing was better then ever! Once reality struck, I started fading reluctantly out of my dream.  :(
Back on topic. I have a question. Why was Michael Jackson not too thrilled about The Invincible Project from the start(around 98)? What really happened between MJ and Tony Motolla? |
I read an article about the Motolla and Jackson feud. Supposedly the masters of Michael's music were to be turned over to him in 2000. However, Michael found that the contract stipulated that he still owed Sony more albums and a list of things that he could not possibly fulfill.
It was discovered that the same lawyer who drew up the contract worked for both Michael and Sony, which was a conflict of interest. Michael also thought that Sony was mad because he owned half their music catalogue. He said they thought he only thought about music and didn't realize he was capable of making a shrewd business decision. Michael told Sony he was leaving the label and the feud began.
Sony refused to promote Invincible. In fact "You Rock My World" was secretly leaked by a radio station who began playing it and it became a hit.
"Invincible" sold nine million copies which was three times more than any other artist at the time. Sony considered it a failure because it didn't sell like "Thriller". Expecting an artist to produce albums that were on the same level in sales as "Thriller" was unfair. to sell nine million copies with hardly any promotion, is unbelievable. Personally, "Invincible" is one of my favorite albums.
Here is the link for a wonderful interview with two men who were Sony executives- don't know if they still are. Corey Rooney was hired in 1998 by Tommy Mottola to be Vice President of A&R at Epic Records. During this time he became friends with Michael.
The other executive is Chris Apostle who was Vice President of Special Recording Projects at Sony Music Entertainment. He later became Tommy Mottola's right-hand man.
They address the feud in the interview. They have nothing but glowing things to say about Michael- his musical genius and his work ethic. They also talk about how his many years as a performer damaged Michael's health and how he lived in constant pain.
There is a print version of the interview, but you can also click to hear the audio.
http://thesportsinterview.com/mjackson.html
This is not related to music, but maybe some of you guys who worked with Michael might know the answer.
For a period of time, Michael would sign autographs with 1998 even though it was 1988. He would then draw and arrow pointing toward the right with three zeros. I've only been able to find one theory- that he thought he would die in 2000. I was wondering if it had to do with the fact he thought he would get the rights to his music in 2000? Does anyone know the answer to this?