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Sony Music Buys Stake in Michael Jackson Catalog, Valuing Rights at Over $1.2B

Michael Jackson's estate sold music rights to Sony at a more than $1.2 billion valuation. The deal includes half his publishing and recorded masters.

Last February, following a story first reported by Variety that the Jackson deal was being negotiated, Billboard estimated that the iconic artist’s estate earns about$75 million annually. Next year, a Jackson biopic called Michael will be released, likely fueling even more growth to his fanbase, boosting consumption and triggering more revenue to flow to his estate and any other rights holder. It also paid $287.5 million for the Jackson estate’s share of the consortium that owned EMI Music Publishing in 2018, as well as dividends during its ownership of those assets that came out to a total of about $1.6 billion.

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