Michael Jackson Estate

John Branca and Michael Jackson (1987)

The Michael Jackson Estate is a legal entity created following the passing of American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It manages all projects (including album or single releases) and income from sales, streams, and radio plays of his music. As Jackson's last will was signed on July 7, 2002, his past attorney John Branca and accountant/record producer John McClain became its executors, and have been since July 1, 2009.

Releases

Music

On March 16, 2010, reports came out of the estate having signed a $250 million recording contract with Sony Music to release ten posthumous records by 2017. As of right now, there have been only two full-fledged albums: Michael (2010) and Xscape (2014), but seven releases in total if counting the Michael Jackson's This Is It compilation album (2009), the Immortal remix album (2011), anniversary re-issues, and the Scream compilation (2017).

In August 2018, Sony Music's chief executive Rob Stringer confirmed they have no more plans to release "full-fledged" posthumous albums under Jackson's name, to focus on releasing one-off songs due to the then-rising popularity of streaming services. Before this confirmation, duets "Don't Matter to Me" with Canadian rapper Drake and "This Is It" with Paul Anka were released in 2013 and June 2018, respectively. However, since the statement's release, this promise has not been fulfilled.

After 2017's Scream compilation, a five-year gap occurred between album releases, as although there were plans for a HIStory 25 project, it got scrapped entirely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest release became Thriller 40, released in 2022.

In 2025, a soundtrack album to the upcoming Michael biographical film was reported to feature contemporized versions of some old outtakes uncovered by the estate. It is set to release at a yet unknown date, due to the ever-changing release date of the motion picture itself.

• Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009, compilation album)
• Michael (2010)
• Immortal (2011, remix album)
• Bad 25 (2012, anniversary reissue)
• Xscape (2014)
• Scream (2017, compilation album)
• Thriller 40 (2022, anniversary reissue)

Documentaries

Almost immediately following its creation, the estate got to work on 2009's Michael Jackson's This Is It, which showed some of Jackson's final moments on stage. In the later years, other films saw a release as well: Bad 25, Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall, and Thriller 40.

Other

Jackson's estate has also managed merchandise, gadgets, the official Michael Jackson website, and is currently working in co-operation with Antoine Fuqua on the upcoming biographical film.

Critiques

Although the estate has been praised for its way of handling legal action, etc., they have been criticized by fans over the years for not properly preserving Jackson's legacy, as in recent years, there has been a clear lack of any releases. The actual released products have also been dubbed underwhelming or "cheap", e.g., the HIStory 25 merchandise or the Scream compilation album.

A very common complaint also mentions the lack of HD renditions of Jackson's music videos or live shows. Only two clips, "Thriller" and "Beat It", have seen 4K recreations so far. Michael Jackson's Ghosts short film was also remastered and released to YouTube in 2020, but was criticized by fans for having used artificial intelligence to upscale it. In 2025, the music video for "Black or White" received a 4K remaster; however, once again, it was merely an AI upscale. Another point of controversy is the removal of some original final scenes.

Although a minor complaint, fans often criticize their official social media as well due to posts including low-quality or tagged images and often even spreading misinformation (e.g., claiming Dangerous was released in 1992).

Despite generating billions posthumously, there have also been concerns over whether the estate has fairly distributed funds to Jackson’s heirs, particularly his children, Prince, Paris, and Blanket.

Eddie Cascio's songs

Main article: Michael (album)

Upon the release of 2010's Michael album, three Eddie Cascio-written tracks were quickly identified by many as not having been performed by Jackson, but as a sound-alike. Although the estate has to this day defended itself in this case, other collaborators who worked on the record, like Teddy Riley or Michael Prince, have confirmed these accusations.

Fan reactions towards the release became very negative, considering Jackson doesn't even sing on it, and caused major backlash towards the estate and Sony Music. On June 12, 2014, a fan, Vera Serova, sued the estate and Sony Music for selling the "fake tracks". The court case spanned eight years in total, and on June 29, 2022, the songs were removed from streaming services. A spokesperson for the MJ Online Team added, however, that the removal "has nothing to do with their authenticity" and that they simply want to move on from the conversation as a whole.

In 2024, journalist and fan Damien Shields released a podcast detailing what went down behind the scenes, where it was revealed that Branca and the estate signed the deal with Cascio to release the songs before even getting to hear them, thus being forced to put them on Michael.

Catalog sale

On February 9, 2024, the estate sold its 50% stake in the Sony/ATV music publishing catalog (which included rights to The Beatles' music) to Sony for $750 million. Fans and critics alike argued that this sale went against Jackson’s wishes to maintain ownership of valuable music assets.

Premium payments

On July 11, 2025, court documents from June 24, 2018 were released to media, where a six-month-period was named within which the estate executors requested approval for $625,000 in payments to three law firms, two of which received "premium payments", which violated the court's order that only allowed them to pay half of attorneys' fees until they received the court's approval.

Jackson's daughter, Paris, objected to their request for legal fees and raised concerns over "gross lack of diligence in seeking the required Court approval for extraordinary fees and costs". On July 16, 2025, a response filing by Branca and McClain was released, where the co-executors defended these actions as "appropriate", adding that it is "common in the entertainment/music business", and that they received approval from the court regarding similar payments in the past. They also addressed Jackson's comments, stating that "the untimely nature of the objections should lead the court to summarily overrule them." However, Jackson continued raising alarm, insisting on a deeper investigation and a court review on payments made between 2019-2023, as well as a restriction that would allow partial payments until the court's approval.

Other

"Do you ever read fan critiques of the Estate’s projects? How do you feel about the fans’ commenting on the Estate projects?" post on the Michael Jackson Official Site

In 2016, it was announced that the 25th anniversary of Dangerous would be celebrated by the estate through uploads of music videos to YouTube and posting trivia on the record. Fans' expectations were for Dangerous to receive a reissue, similarly to Thriller and Bad, thus their reception quickly changed into negative, as this approach was claimed to be too "limited".

In 2017, The Ultimate Collection was entirely removed from streaming services, leaving fans complaining that they weren't able to listen to their favorite songs anymore. That year, a new compilation album, Scream, was released as well. It was promoted as though it were a new album; thus, Jackson's fans became frustrated with the estate putting out what fans described as a "cash grab".

In 2020, HIStory 25 received similar treatment as Dangerous, where ultimately only merchandise was released, dubbed by fans as "cheap". In August, Michaeljackson.com had updated their FAQ, confirming that a proper HIStory 25 project was in the works, but that the COVID-19 pandemic caused works on it to be paused indefinitely. Despite the delay, the entire project never came into fruition, with the team later focusing on Thriller 40 instead.

Upon the announcement of Thriller 40, its artwork and logo were criticized for having been made with very little care. Although the issues eventually got resolved, the project was still critiqued for the lack of unheard material, as it was mostly a rehash of what came out before. Fans were also becoming tired of the documentary's release date staying unknown for nearly half a year, as the estate stayed silent on it until May 2023.