Thief takes Brad Sundberg’s laptop with never-before-heard MJ tracks!

Brad Sundberg was in Brussels, Belgium, this weekend for his “In The Studio with MJ” seminar. The 3-day event started on Friday 27 January, in which Sundberg plays a selection of Michael Jackson’s material, including unreleased songs, demos, and videos, explaining the process behind making some of Michael Jackson’s masterpieces.

This year, Sundberg celebrates 10 years of his In The Studio venture, where fans can enter the genius mind of how Michael Jackson created his most famous works, by purchasing tickets from $49 up to several hundred dollars.

These sessions have been enjoyed by fans worldwide and despite the odd phone recorded leak, they’ve been successful in containing their contents…until now.

Unfortunately, on Friday, during a break, an event attendee entered the seminar room while no one was present and stole Sundberg’s laptop and hard drive. Apparently, he proceeded to escape through a window and over the roof!

The local police were called immediately to report the individual and the stolen items.

The laptop and drive contained many unreleased Michael Jackson items: from songs, demos, snippets, stems, as well as studio footage, that Sundberg uses during his seminars. Most notably, the infamous ‘Childhood’ recording session.

Thanks to a backup, Sundberg resumed the event on Saturday and Sunday. He also released a statement on Friday night explaining the situation:

While this criminal activity took place and ignited the fan community on social media, it had severe consequences and raised numerous questions about the contents and the seminars themselves. We went through different chats, blogs, and conversations across the internet over the last couple of days and summarised these thoughts below.

It is unimaginable to think that a Michael Jackson fan from our community could be a true criminal and resort to such things as stealing private property. Hopefully, the perpetrator will be arrested and be forced to reconcile with their actions both legally and morally. Last year, we spoke here on MJVibe about Illegal recordings in our opinion piece when we saw the leaking of Chicago 1945 from MJ Music Day’s event with Steve Porcaro.

While it’s terrible to think that a fan attending an event could stoop so low as to steal these items for online glory, it is also disappointing that Michael’s material was not better secured by Sundberg during breaks, just in case! Of course, the idea of theft would be unfathomable, but the value of Michael’s material alone should have been enough to ensure it was always locked away or with a trusted person. In today’s climate, nothing can be left to chance!

Trust is a hard task to exercise, even with those you believe are there for the right intentions.

Fans on Twitter have also raised the issue that the Estate of Michael Jackson asked Sundberg to stop sharing certain things during his seminars. This wasn’t confirmed or denied by the Estate but has divided the fans on whether Sundberg should remain the gatekeeper of works that Michael wrote and sang and only allow those who can afford to buy a ticket to experience Michael’s work. On the other side, fans who have attended the seminars have been very positive and supportive of Sundberg, his events and the experiences they have enjoyed.

There can be no justification for stealing the laptop and drive. It is theft and it’s illegal. No amount of attempt to reason this criminal act will make it any less of a criminal offence.  The actions have revived the old debate on unreleased material from Michael Jackson and some of the following quotes sum up the two sides of this debate that we’re now seeing play out: “We should all enjoy Michael’s music” said a fan online, “Brad should not be profiting from Michael’s work and if the Estate can’t have them, we should all have it for free” said another one.

Ultimately, it is not for fans or even Sundberg to decide what gets released officially and what does not. It’s the Estate’s decision. Fans may not like that and feel hard-done-by about what is released and when. But that’s just the way it is – legally!

In the final 8 years of his life, Michael didn’t release a full album of new material and fans had to accept that. They wouldn’t dream of hacking Michael’s vault or heading to the studio to steal his material.

The consequences of this event only have negative outcomes.

Firstly, Sundberg is the victim of property theft. His laptop and hard drive were stolen and this must feel awful for him, especially if his own personal items are included. It’s a disgusting violation of privacy.

Secondly, we must consider Michael in all of this. This is his material that Sundberg had on the laptop – it’s his vocal, his ideas, his creations. The footage from the HIStory sessions, though shot by Sundberg, was still for Michael’s future endeavours. And in his lifetime, Michael chose not to have the footage of him released.

Further to this, we need to consider the potential of future releases – It goes without saying that now in their full, studio quality status, songs such as Chicago 1945 and Throwing Your Life Away have lost their commercial value as they’re now all over YouTube. Unfinished works such as ‘Faces’, ‘Deep In The Night’, and ‘Family Thing’ could have been revisited in some capacity, but again have lost their value – Which is a shame when you consider how excited everybody was to discover the existence of songs such as ‘Who Do You Know’ and ‘What A Lovely Way To Go’ on Thriller 40 last year.

Finally, it’s unclear what will happen with the In The Studio sessions in the future; if everything Sundberg had of Michael’s was on that laptop and hard drive, it may deter fans from attending if it’s all available online. Of course, Sundberg still has his personal experience with Michael and that’s something nobody can steal! However, if he continues to play this type of material at these events, he must action more security from now on. It happened on his watch and he needs to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

We know first-hand that when somebody steals something from an event you’ve organised that you must make changes and also acknowledge where you can do better in the future – and we’ve done it.

No matter what you feel or think about Brad Sundberg, the ownership of the material and the unreleased songs, the whole situation is a mess, and the action of one individual has jeopardised the well-being of the community. This criminal should be found and brought to justice.

At MJVibe, we are saddened and disappointed with what has happened, and we will not share any links to what is reportedly close to 500 files that have been leaked from Brad Sundberg’s laptop & Drive.

We have contacted the Michael Jackson Estate for comment.