It was 45 years ago today that Michael Jackson outbid Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono for the ATV music-publishing catalog for the rights to more than 250 songs written by John Lennon and John Lennon for $47.5 million (link below).
Jackson was a notorious spender, renowned in his latter years for endless shopping sprees. As a result, at the time of his death in 2009, the self-proclaimed King of Pop was $500 million in debt.
Before his shocking overdose at age 50, rumors repeatedly swirled that Jackson was on the verge of a forced sale off one of his prized, and most valuable, assets: his 50 percent stake in the Sony/ATV catalog. When the deal finally closed the sale price was proof that Jackson's 1985 purchase of half of the music publishing company whose holdings include iconic songs by The Beatles and Bob Dylan was perhaps the shrewdest move of his 40-plus-year career.
Before his shocking overdose at age 50, rumors repeatedly swirled that Jackson was on the verge of a forced sale off one of his prized, and most valuable, assets: his 50 percent stake in the Sony/ATV catalog. When the deal finally closed the sale price was proof that Jackson's 1985 purchase of half of the music publishing company whose holdings include iconic songs by The Beatles and Bob Dylan was perhaps the shrewdest move of his 40-plus-year career.
Known as ATV Music, the music publishing division, it existed initially to publish TV-related music, such as theme tunes,
composed by its in-house composers. It was formed after ATV acquired a
substantial share of Pye Records.
This company was eventually split away from the parent company and went
through numerous different owners as well as buying into other
established music publishers including Northern Songs, which was the publishing company for the Beatles. ATV Music eventually settled into the hands of Michael Jackson before being merged into Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
The Sony/ATV catalog now includes hits by everyone from Marvin Gaye to Taylor Swift, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, A$AP Rocky, Eminem, Fall Out Boy, Adele and Lady Gaga (link below).
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
NPR ~ Sony Buys Michael Jackson's Stake In Music Catalog
NY Times ~ Sony Pays Jackson Estate $750 Million for Music Catalog Sony/ATV Music Publishing ~ Artists List
NY Times ~ Sony Pays Jackson Estate $750 Million for Music Catalog Sony/ATV Music Publishing ~ Artists List
Styrous® ~ Friday, August 14, 2020
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