Posted on 04/13/2006 2:54:19 AM PDT by abb
Michael Jackson, the debt-laden pop star, could begin to lose his grip on his most prized asset -- his stake in the lucrative music-publishing catalog that includes 251 Beatles songs -- under the terms of a proposed $325 million debt refinancing, according to people familiar with the matter.
The performer, whose star has fallen in recent years, is expected to announce as early as today that he has refinanced loan agreements originally valued at a total of about $270 million with the New York hedge fund Fortress Investment Group LLC, people familiar with the matter say. As part of his new deal, the singer will probably be forced to sell half of his 50% stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, which owns and administers copyrights to thousands of songs, to partner Sony Corp. sometime within the next year. Mr. Jackson is expected to use the proceeds to pay back a significant chunk of his debt to Fortress. [Michael Jackson]
The deal, which wasn't signed as of yesterday, could still fall apart, these people say. But if finalized, it would be a coup for Sony, where music executives have long hoped to buy out Mr. Jackson's interests in Sony/ATV and own the catalog outright. Mr. Jackson bought the catalog, including the big swath of Beatles tunes, 21 years ago at a price far below its current $1 billion valuation. To this day, it generates revenue for Sony/ATV every time one of its songs is played on the radio.
The entertainer's Los Angeles financial adviser, Gaynell Lenoir, described the pending deal as a positive development for the singer. "He's seriously looking at his business affairs, and we're proud of him, really," she said in an interview. "He is vibrant, [and] he is going to resume his career."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I hope the four Beatles estate's get the rights to these songs again. If these songs are worth $1 billion a year, and McCartney is estimated to still make more than most entertainers make a year he most have done something right when he & John made these songs. I guarantee they will not be forgetten in 20 years.
George Martin deserves a nice cut, as well.
... and their song catalog will be worth as much as Rudy's catalog.
"The performer, whose star has fallen in recent years..."
Yeah, if you consider the last 20 years "recent"!
In a world with sane copyright law, the value of this catalog would be approximately $0.00.
I guess the "pimps of little boys" need to keep getting paid off to keep quiet.
It's been more than 25 years since they broke up. Their albums still sell and new compilation albums always sell in the millions. Your wife could use some musical education. You could use a new crystal ball.
Can someone please explain to me how Michael Jackson ended up owning the Beatles' song catalogue?
It's a cliche', I know.......but...........
If you really want to borrow a LOT of money and get VERY favorable terms.....just be sure that you owe a LOT of money first.
When you're talking about that kind of money, it's the other way around to some extent. As the saying goes, "if you owe $100,000, the bank owns you. If you owe $100,000,000, you own the bank." Put another way, Michael Jackson wouldn't have been able to drag this out for years and years if it had just been a $250,000 mortgage.
"...It's been more than 25 years since they broke up...."
It's been 36 years since The Beatles broke up. Paul announced it on April 10, 1970, the day before Apollo 13 launche for the moon. BTW, today is the 36th anniversary of the explosion that aborted that flight.
well yes, but he bought those songs really cheap.
He bought the rights in the mid 80's for like $50 million, IIRC..
There are very few of us left who hung around with Stephen Foster.
The guy in #12. Was he in Brokeback Mountain?
Time for Michael to go the Elvis route and do live shows in Vegas.
No, he's from Boot-in-your-ass Mountain. That's Toby Keith.
Not too many people know that expression, but it fits to a "T".
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