Twentysomething in the Music Biz

During the weekly “class” I have with my intern Ryan via gchat, I got to talking about MJ’s triumphant return, so I asked him to dissect why he was coming back now, what sort of PR will need to be done to get people to come, does he still have the singing and dance chops to cut it live, will all 32 shows (note: now 50) sell out, why London, will it follow up with a US tour….. This is what he said (completely unabridge):

Having been born in a different era, I didn’t really understand how big of a pop star Michael Jackson really was. Growing up, he was more of a foil for comedians than he was a musician. So needless to say, I wasn’t sure how big of a response he would get with this “curtain call”. Boy, was I wrong. He sold out 50 arena-crowd shows (750,000 tickets) in mere HOURS! I really don’t think any other performer on the planet could have sold out THAT quickly.

I’m not sure I will be able to say definitively “why”, but I do have a few theories. First off, it’s clear that he has had a lot of money troubles. He has been in debt for a long time, and Sony and others have been keeping him afloat. It probably had come down to either doing some shows or selling Neverland Ranch. Yeah, he might have missed performing, but it’s far more likely he was motivated by financial reasons. However, why London? There are two possibilities that I thought about:

1. It’s not America. Let’s face it, America has not been too kind to MJ in the recent years, especially during his trial. He might not have felt like America was the best place to stage his final shows, and Europe would be kinder to him.

2. Kickbacks. From the reading I’ve been doing, it’s become clear that Sony has wanted him to get off his ass and perform for a while, he just never wanted to. Sony has probably been scoping out a place for him to perform for years now, and the O2 may have made the best offer.

Dave asked me to write about PR, but I think that’s somewhat of a moot point at this juncture. With relatively little fanfare he sold nearly a million tickets. Michael Jackson has so much star power that all you need to do is have an event, people will talk about it whether you pay them to or not.

Another big question is the quality of performance. Jacko’s almost 50 years old and has had some plastic surgery issues, so he might not be at the top of his game. Best case scenario is that he can do most of his old moves and still sing relatively well. Worst case is that 30 shows in, he loses his voice and his nose falls off. Whatever his state is now, Sony is doing everything it can to ensure he performs well, and you can be sure his accompaniment will be top notch.

I think it’s cool that he’s doing a final run. Fans can expect a show full of his greatest hits, superb dancing and musicianship, and a light show that would cause a pothead to mess himself. I guess that all’s left is to see whether or not he delivers.

Oh, and if anyone needs to unload a few tickets, I would be more than happy to oblige.

Final notes: Unlike Ryan, Dangerous was one of the first cassettes I ever bought, so I did invest a lot of time listening to his music growing up. That being said, I’d hate to see MJ fall to the same fate as James Brown. James was great singer and incredible performer who kept pushing in his later years without a voice and little or no ability to dance. When I actually got to see Godfather of Soul in Atlantic City, NJ 6 or 7 years ago, I was actually appalled that he had kept performing. So maybe it’s a good thing MJ is calling it quits after this string of 50 shows. And there’s always room for the “surprise” out of retirement tour if he’s in anymore money troubles.