The Problem With Illegal Recording At Michael Jackson Events

Across his Epic records solo career, Michael released six studio albums and one remix album. Excluding Greatest Hits packages, seven mainstream releases in 22 years is not a big amount when considering the extensive catalogues of other artists from the same period. But Michael was a perfectionist, and it’s well documented that he would spend years in the studio and months working on an individual song to get it exactly where he wanted it.

Over the course of the last decade in particular, the way in which we consume music has changed and with the merging of social media platforms and music together to create a trend or a movement has placed a greater demand on today’s artists to keep releasing music more frequently.

This is not so much a problem for some legacy artists whose audiences have grown with them and often don’t seek to gain a mass cultural following of fans from younger generations. Still, with an artist like Michael, who is constantly gaining new fans while maintaining his existing legion, it places him in a similar position where the desire for ‘something new’ is ever present – something a quick scroll through the comments on Twitter will attest – “We want new music”, “Open the vault”, “We want an album” are daily thoughts shared.

As we know, Michael was someone who recorded a lot. Not as much as is often reported, but much more than many other artists and so that’s left a hunger for more music, especially since everyone is aware that some exists.

Since Michael passed, a lot of music has been shared from the vault, officially. There’s also been quite a bit that’s been leaked or shared unofficially, and a matter of weeks before the release of Thriller 40, the same thing happened again.

Long-time collaborator Steve Porcaro, who worked on Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad with Michael, was the special guest at MJ Music Day in France in November. MJ Music Day seminars have focused primarily on Michael’s musical collaborators at which Brad Buxer and Michael Prince have been regular guests in the past.

During the event, Porcaro played unreleased Michael Jackson songs that he had worked on with the King of Pop: ‘Dream Away’ and ‘Chicago 1945’.

What a treat for those in attendance!

However, a person present at the event took the decision to illegally record the playback of both songs and distribute them online, despite the organisers’ clear instructions that under no circumstances would this be permitted.

This is not the first time this has happened where an attendee at an event has violated the specific requests and the trust of all involved in a self-elected quest for a moment of online glory. As is now standard in these cases, they’re uploaded in bad quality, under *Insert MJ Rare related Youtube name here*.

And they know what they’ve done is wrong, otherwise, they’d upload it publicly using their own name.

In the last decade, both fan events and official events have welcomed those who worked with Michael, notably in a creative or musical capacity, to speak about their experiences and in many cases, these collaborators have brought recordings from their own archives to share with those in attendance. In many of these cases, somebody in attendance decides to record illegally.

Brad Sundberg’s In The Studio sessions have been victim to this many times over, with songs such as ‘Throwing Your Life Away’, For All Time (Alternative version), Childhood vocal recording session and Give In To Me (writing session) alongside many demos and alternative versions having been recorded on phones and leaked online.

Kingvention also experienced this when a special guest in 2016 opted to play a song from his private collection. Initially, there were no plans to play unreleased music, but the guest arrived in London with an unreleased song from his own set of tapes and wanted to share it with the fans present at the event that year.

In a meeting at Sony a day prior, the guest told them he’d be attending the event and playing what he had. They apparently appeared nonchalant. They also had no knowledge of the rough demo existing.

After the playback, it was discovered that the song was recorded by a fan in attendance and shared online. The Kingvention team sought legal advice and took action accordingly, but that didn’t prevent a mixed backlash from fans – Everything from high praise, to nasty emails and messages.

It’s clear that the fans are very divided on this topic.

Some feel that absolutely nothing from the vault should be released, officially or otherwise, owing to the fact Michael isn’t here to approve its output. Others feel that only official, legally released work should be available.

And some will take anything, in any form, through any means.

While personal opinions can take any number of directions, the fact remains clear that the illegal recording and distribution of these songs is just that – illegal.

Some have argued that “if the Estate released more, then fans wouldn’t leak it.” – This is not a justification. Let’s first bear in mind that these leaks were not released as songs or demos by Michael himself, so to hold the Estate accountable for not releasing something Michael also didn’t release is a poor case to make. Additionally, much of what leaks from these events are works in the possession of collaborators that the Estate themselves do not have. So they cannot be expected to release work they don’t have.

So, why don’t these collaborators share what they have with the Estate?

Steve Porcaro answered this at MJ Music Day, stating that when he was asked what he had by Sony reps, he mentioned Chicago 1945, which they claimed they already had, possibly confusing it with ‘Chicago’ from Xscape, which is actually called ‘She Was Lovin’ Me’

Additionally, Bryan Loren revealed in a previous interview that he’d had conversations with the Estate, and they were not interested in the songs he had such as ‘Work That Body’, ‘She Got It’ etc.

Will.I.Am wanted to release ‘I’m Dreamin’ which he recorded with Michael on his 2013 album WillPower, yet the Estate declined.

Roger Taylor from Queen spoke of working with the Estate on ‘There Must Be More To Life Than This’ as like “wading through glue!”

There are also conversations about who worked on projects and who would need credit, and perhaps more importantly, who needs paying – which is maybe something the Estate aren’t interested in doing – Perhaps the thinking is: Why strike deals when they still have works in the vault to release themselves and are able to trace who needs crediting and who needs royalties?!

In 2009 when This Is It was released, Paul Anka wasn’t credited and Anka threatened legal action, so The Estate agreed to 50% of publishing rights. “I don’t think that anybody tried to do the wrong thing.” Anka said after the fact, while Sony Chairman Rob Stringer admitted the error was corrected after fans highlighted the issue. For Thriller 40, Bill Bottrell was credited as working on Sunset Driver in 1982. Bill Bottrell didn’t meet or start working with Michael until mid-1983, after Thriller’s release.

As you can see, it can get messy. Whatever the reasoning, it does not excuse fans who put out unreleased music.

In the past, leaks were known to come out of the studios by those with access to the same spaces – Xscape, Blue Gangsta (No Friend Of Mine), A Place With No Name and Hold My Hand were all known to come out of studio leaks.

But when fans do it to their own artist, it just hits differently. As a community we all crusade both on and offline to ensure Michael Jackson is respected, his work is respected, and his title as the King of Pop is respected, and we hold those to account, including his Estate, who challenge this. So when one of our own does it, we have got to see it the same way. Michael Jackson’s work needs to be respected by everybody, including his fans.

Perhaps the leaking of Chicago 1945 and Dream Away will mark a turning point for this type of private listening at fan events. Kingvention agreed never to play unreleased music again after what happened in 2016, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if MJ Music Day or Steve Porcaro came to the same resolve.

And it happens at official events too. Some fans who travelled from France to the UK for the screening of the Thriller 40 documentary were noted for filming after being instructed to put their phone in the sealed bags provided at the door. They also stole the two official posters from the wall, unscrewing the frame, before running out with them under their jackets.

In all cases, levels of disrespect will result in these experiences not being available to fans anymore. Some will rejoice in this; others will feel they’re going to miss out. Ultimately, nobody wins, least of all Michael.

We all have to do our part to respect the rules in place to avoid the above happening. I know it can be hard for some of us, as we get very excited and re-share those leaks but by doing so, we become part of the problem. There does appear to be this notion with some that ‘because I’m a fan of Michael, I can do what I like with leaks.’ – Sorry, legally that’s not true.

We have a collective responsibility to ensure Michael’s legacy is maintained to the highest standard and as frustrating as the wait for unreleased music can be, we just have to wait if we want his posthumous career to still be releasing decades later, like Freddie & Elvis.

When it comes to Michael’s collaborators, remember: That moment of glory you get for leaking it will be temporary, as no one will care who you were once it’s spread everywhere. But the damage to that person’s career, the future potential of the song and ensuring collaborators attend events and share their stories, will be long-lasting.