Could Michael Jackson ACTUALLY “Heal The World”

I don't know, John. People magazine had Michael on their cover for two weeks only, then it was back to Kate and Jon plus 8 (and the new girlfriend).

Yeah, I agree whole heartedly. The ability to move collectibles is an area YOU RULE in, thanks for the insite. Retail? Is just getting started. What has happened for the past 3 weeks is that Michael has OUTSOLD every other artist for 3 weeks straight at #1 on Billboard, while maintaining 4-6 slots of the top selling albums by volume.

These are completely un-counted revenue for these music chains. Plus you have both tribute concerts as well as the This Is It Show with over 100 hours of footage of his last performance. Top those with merchandising and sponsorships? That a LOT of cash flowing into an economy that was "dead". Consumers ARE spending money on Micheal, could that jog the spending of other corporations that harness this Michael stuff?

How many people will become employed to manage to tour? The merchandising? The shipping of stuff? What about the gift market around Christmas for fans? WOW...I could see this impacting bottom lines for several corporations this year. Of course it could be the Scotch :-)

thanks, John

Oh, I don't disagree that MJ is going to rank up there with Elvis and Princess Di in terms of public consciousness for a generation or two/three even.

I wasn't trying to say that Michael was going to disappear, not at all, my point was the peak of the news cycle had ended...for now. Any "new" material could be total crap but Thriller's still going to sell ... then again, wouldn't Thriller have still sold anyway?

My perspective is this, yeah, music is going to sell for a long time to come, but if I had anything created/manufactured prior to his passing the best time to sell his likely passed--with exceptions (signed goods will increase in value in the future for instance). I can already get a copy of that Entertainment Weekly shown above for less than cover price (+ shipping) on eBay.

I guess I should make mention that the best indicator of future performance is sometimes past performance. According to Forbes.com Elvis Presley continues to top the list of dead celebrities for 2008.

Elvis estate was worth approximately $1 million dollars the day he died. However, last year The KING's estate raked in $52 Million and that dude died in the 70's. Compare that number to Justin Timberlake or Madonna both pulled in around $40-45 million in the same year!

Tupac Shakur died way back in 1996 and his estate pulled in a whopping $12 million. And he was "just a rapper"

Take Marvin Gaye, who lands in 13th place on the Forbes list this year, with earnings of $3.5 million. Gaye had a great year. Coinciding with Motown Records' 50th birthday, two major studios have announced upcoming Marvin Gaye biopics, and some of his classic albums have been remastered and re-released.

Both John Lennon and George Harrison make the list as well as racing superstar Dale Earnhardt. Iconic staples like Marily Monroe and James Dean continue to rake in about $5 million every year.

There is NO such thing as "crash" only CASH ;-) This machine from Micheal Jackson could most likely top ALL of them!

John

Honestly, from my vintage perspective, if I was sitting on some cool MJ stuff from the 70's and/or 80's it would have already been sold and I'd be confident I would have received peak price selling price for all-time when I did.

I don't know man, the "mainstream" news cycle seems to have stopped rolling, at least I hadn't noticed anything about Michael for about a week now until your vid here. The magazine covers, well, I think that's to be expected, the music sales, strong stuff--but is a just quick bounce and if so, when does that bounce peak?

Or it very well could be your tsunami.

I think in the end what it's all going to come down to is whatever new material is released--if it's good then the wave crashes, if it's not then this all gets backburnered some.

Of course upon release whatever new material is available first will be hailed as genius, but give that a couple of weeks too--there's definitely going to be some emotion involved in the early reviews.

LaToya cashing in, huh? I think that goes to prove that some of this wave is going to be manufactured by people with a financial interest--for it to be real, to sustain, the people are going to have to keep buying what they're selling. And again, for that to happen it's going to have to first and foremost be good.

Thanks, Cliff