Looks like that creepy Michael Jackson hologram at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards was just the beginning of bringing MJ back. According to a recent report from Rolling Stone, the King of Pop's estate has big plans for the future. Producer Rodney Jerkins recently told the mag, "We got more surprises coming."
Jerkins worked on the newest posthumous album, Xscape, alongside producer Timbaland.
While it seems safe to believe that "new" music from Jackson following his death would be well received by fans, it's apparently considered a "soft demand." Even the newest single featuring Justin Timberlake stalled at Number 2 and proceeded to then drop tremendously the following week. This is mainly due to the fact that the audiences just stop listening, says Dan Beck, a former Epic Records executive.
Despite the single's drop in chart position, the recent release of Xscape is a complete success over the first posthumous release, 2010's Michael.
Jackson remains the highest grossing deceased artist of all time as of 2013, with a recorded $600 million in earnings since his passing back in 2009. The bulk of these are due to various projects that have become extremely profitable over the years, such as Cirque du Soleil's Immortal tour and the huge deal for new material with Sony Music – a reported $250 million deal.
Word has it that the masses should expect to see more works coming in the near future. Jackson's longtime engineer and friend, Matt Forger, has said, "It was frequent that Michael would record songs and put them on the shelf."
So, would you happily accept more music from the late King of Pop? Or, is Dan Beck correct? After a while, will audiences just stop listening?
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