In December 2024, former California Highway Patrol officer Gregg Musgrove made a remarkable discovery: a collection of unreleased Michael Jackson recordings. While exploring an abandoned storage unit in the San Fernando Valley, previously owned by music producer Bryan Loren, Musgrove uncovered 12 tracks that Jackson worked on between 1989 and 1991. These songs, including titles like “Don’t Believe It,” “Seven Digits,” and “Truth on Youth” (a duet with rapper LL Cool J), offer a unique glimpse into Jackson’s creative process during the “Dangerous” album era.
Despite the significance of this find, the Michael Jackson Estate, which holds the rights to his musical works, declined to purchase the tapes. They emphasized that any commercial use of the recordings would violate existing copyrights. Consequently, while the physical tapes are valuable as collector’s items, the music they contain cannot be legally released or publicly shared.
Undeterred, Musgrove has partnered with the auction house Gotta Have Rock & Roll to sell the tapes. The auction, set to take place in New Jersey, will start bidding at $85,000. However, potential buyers should note that ownership of the tapes does not grant rights to distribute or monetize the music.
The Estate is unhappy, deeming the sale a “sad attempt by an auction site to mislead the public.”
Gotta Have Rock and Roll’s president, Dylan Kosinski, told TMZ that the “cassettes are more valuable because they can’t be reproduced or released to the public,” calling the auction a “bigger deal” because the estate is still holding onto the originals. Michael’s collaborator, Loren, is said to have given the copies to the auction’s consignor.
This isn’t the first time Gotta Have Rock & Roll has encountered legal challenges from the Michael Jackson Estate. In a previous incident, the estate intervened to halt the sale of over two dozen unreleased Jackson recordings from 1994 sessions at The Hit Factory in New York City, asserting that the tapes were “unquestionably stolen.” The auction house subsequently withdrew those items from sale.
The current situation highlights the complexities surrounding posthumous releases of an artist’s work, especially when legal rights and ethical considerations intersect. While fans may hope to hear these unreleased tracks, the prevailing legal constraints make a public release unlikely in the near future.
