This is a podcast about the great Michael Jackson. It is an extension of the blog Michael and the Truth.
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Description: This episode will be about my reaction to the sell of Michael's half of his music publishing catalog, MiJac, to Sony Music. I have a lot of things to state so fasten your seat belt. (Not literally).
Fair Use Statement: This site/podcast contains original content that may not be authorized for use by the creator. The podcaster is legally using original content under the fair use principles. Here is the link to Section 107 of the Copyright Act - https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107
Show Notes-
What did Michael state in the past that is haunting now?
What rapper Eric Sermon stated about owning music publishing (via Drink Champs Podcast/IG)
Music publishing is all about rights and royalties– ensuring that the songwriters, composers, and producers are compensated for the use of their work.
Music publishing is the business of producing, protecting and administering copyrights for musical compositions. It involves registering musical works with a Performing Rights Organization and collecting royalties from radio, television, and other sources. A music publishing company also promotes their copyrighted works to the public, ensures that lyrics are properly registered with the Performing Rights Organization, and provides legal advice when necessary. In essence, music publishing is the business of ensuring that composers and songwriters are properly compensated for their creative works.
Oh, you don't say. Frank Dileo's daughter, Belinda Dileo stated this on her IG account which makes you think, "hmmmm...."
Oh, so they are trippin' for real.
Can the fan community as a whole recover from this situation? Post a 2012 blog post from a estate executor supporter blog that proves that some members of the fan community are bought by the executors.
Description: This episode is about my reaction to The Greatest Night of Pop documentary, the Michael biopic news, the 2024 Grammys and Usher's Superbowl Performance.
Fair Use Statement: This site/podcast contains original content that may not be authorized for use by the creator. The podcaster is legally using original content under the fair use principles. Here is the link to Section 107 of the Copyright Act - https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107
- It gets into how the song was created, the funny stories and the way it was done.
- Harry Belanfonte was a true superhero.
- Michael's creative genius and how he operates truly shines in the documentary.
- Gets into how the artists got their solo parts in the song.
- It shows how the song and video for the song was made
- The impact the song made on the world.
- The documentary is a must watch for all music fans.
- The documentary is still doing well on Netflix.
What Michael stated about WATW in Moonwalk? Pages 262-263.
Comparing Thriller 40 to The Greatest Night In Pop
- Nelson George barely promoted Thriller 40 whereas Bao Nguyen was everywhere promoting the documentary.
- Nguyen did not want the mainstream media (msm) to dwell on the nonsense regarding Michael (more like the lies) but instead focus on Michael's genius. George always made sure anytime he would talk about Michael to bash him.
- The documentary TGNIP was seen everywhere and people had no trouble accessing the documentary. That was not the same for Thriller 40.
The song started Michael's music reign writing humanitarian type of songs throughout his career.
Interview with Bao Nguyen, director of the documentary from the AP-
Lionel Richie on Working with Michael on the song -
Description: Thriller 40 documentary finally aired on December 2nd, 2023 and many fans watched it and reviewed the documentary. I finally watched the documentary twice and I have a lot to state about it. I will be stating spoilers of the documentary so if you have not seen the documentary and you do not want to hear any spoilers, please ignore this episode of the podcast.
Fair Use Statement: This site/podcast contains original content that may not be authorized for use by the creator. The podcaster is legally using original content under the fair use principles. Here is the link to Section 107 of the Copyright Act - https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107
Show Notes -
If you want to read my reviews of the two previous documentaries that the Estate release on Michael in 2012 and 2016, here it is:
My reaction to the trailer was all over the place.
The documentary premiered on Paramount+ and Showtime in the United States. The lack of promotion for the documentary was unfortunate. MJ fans had to pretty much promote the documentary.
I finally saw the documentary twice and I have decided to breakdown what I felt about it.
Likes/Loved:
- The rare footage. This was pretty much the best thing about the documentary.
Mary J. Blige, Usher, Will.i.am, Maxwell, Misty Copeland, Steven Ivory, Mark Ranson.
Incorporating Michael's words in the documentary.
The sequence from his beginnings as a child star/teen idol to superstardom.
Putting Michael's writings in the documentary to show his view of how he would approach the album.
Interviewing the musicians/producers such as Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Steve Lukather, Greg Phillinganes, Steven Ray, etc.
The right people on the documentary (musician wise) were speaking on the music they worked on such as Paul Jackson Jr. and Anthony Marinelli
The demos of the songs from the album were played and audio of Michael discussing how the songs came about.
Usher stating that the song "Billie Jean" could be viewed as "toxic R&B".
Walter Yetnikoff explaining what he had to do to get Michael to get on MTV black artists on heavy rotation.
The funniest part of the documentary was when Walter called John Branca on the phone and told him "tell Michael to stop kissing the monster". Michael was angry and that led to Walter giving Michael his masters.
Incorporating Bruce Swedien and Quincy Jones views in the documentary.
How the "Beat It" short film showcased the street life.
Motown 25 Performance: Michael becomes a legend.
Michael's dancing being disected.
Goes into detail with how he sang and his vocals.
Dislikes/Loathed:
Nelson George was never nice to Michael. Why was he the director but not Spike Lee?
No family members and they worked on the demos with Michael. LaToya and Janet sang back up for "PYT".
John Branca acts as if he is Michael's historian.
He stated that Michael wanted to do a Thriller tour to thank the fans for buying the album, but that is not the case. Michael explains the Victory Tour situation in his book Moonwalk. I will read pages 238-242 and 249-257.
The documentary was trying to imply that Michael used white icons like Paul McCartney, Eddie Van Halen and Jane Fonda to get Michael to the white audiences, A sneak attack.
Assuming his Pepsi Accident led to his issues later on in his life when it was a combination of things.
From his book Moonwalk: I will read pages 235-237.
Ola Ray and Vincent Patterson were not interviewed.
Ola Ray speaks to Youtuber Red Dance -
Vincent Patterson speaks to the Youtube channel Dance Dish:
Why Tik Tok was mentioned but not Youtube or Instagram? Tik Tok is not the only social media platform. This shows that the Estate is catering to a younger audience and ignoring the established fans/audience.
When a list of artists that were inspired by Michael why was Chris Brown, Beyonce, Janet, Ciara, Sisqo, Omarion, Jason Derulo not mentioned?
The documentary was disorganized.
Why weren't the former gang members from the "Beat It" short film interviewed?
Michael's view of Motown 25 was not mentioned.
Michael discussed this in his Moonwalk book on pages 207-215.
Michael did an interview with Ebony magazine in 2007 and discussed his view of his performance on page 98 and 100.
Not sure why Polo G, like K-Pop/BTS was mentioned. More evidence that the Estate is catering to a younger audience.
Should have focused more of Michael's humanitarian work.
Suggestions:
Michael's views about Thriller from his 2007 Ebony magazine interview.
Reads from page 96 and 98.
Not injecting his impact in the middle of the documentary. It should have been moved to the very end.
Using what Michael stated in his book about the album.
In Moonwalk, Michael discussed the making of the album in detail. Reads pages 181-208.
The interview that Michael did in 1999 for MTV and TV Guide where Michael talks about the short films from the Thriller album.
Genesis of Thriller audio documentary goes into detail with each song.
Should have discussed how the album change music when it comes to everything.
The documentary should have been longer.
The documentary should have included the fans who were around at the time.
Random Thoughts:
Dick Zimmerman who photographed the Thriller album was not in the documentary.
Recommended watch to learn more about Thriller: Sonic Fantasy by Marcos Cabota.
All of the Victory Tour earnings Michael had he donated to: The United Negro College Fund, TJ Martell Foundation for Cancer Research and Camp Good Times.
The reactions from the fans about the documentary and why certain fans need to accept the fact that the fan community as a whole will never like the estate executors.
Michael's strive for greatness and to be number one is something to be studied.
The closing credits mentions MJ: The Musical and Myles Frost - what does any of that have to do with Thriller? I was confused by that. Is the executors trying to replace MJ with Myles Frost? Very weird.
Youtuber Professor Black Truth's video reminding people of what Sony Music did to Michael.
Why John Branca continues to include people who have openly disrespected Michael (John Legend, Nelson George, Sheryl Crow, Lynn Nottage, Brooke Sheilds, John and Deborah Landis) in posthumous projects on Michael? It show his lack of respect towards Michael.
Conclusion/Overall:
Does this documentary explains Michael's genius and impact properly? Probably. The documentary was good, probably OK at best. However, it could have been much, much better. The documentary did reach to number one on that Paramount + platform but after all of the small hype around it, it was slowly forgettable.
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