Quincy Jones-Michael Jackson Lawsuit Settled
After 48 hours deliberating a lawsuit filed four years ago by Quincy Jones against Michael Jackson’s estate has ruled in favor of Jones, ruling the late performer’s estate will pay out $9.4 million to Jackson’s former producer.
Jones met Jackson on the set of 1978’s The Wiz, a uniquely auspicious moment that would lead to one of the most fruitful partnerships in pop history. The two worked together on three albums, Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad, collectively selling over 100 million copies across the globe. Jones’s lawsuit alleges that Jackson’s estate and Sony Music Entertainment have edited, remixed, or otherwise altered the tunes to deprive Jones of his due royalties, a clear breach, Jones claims, of two contracts signed by Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson in 1978 and 1985, which state that Jones legally has first crack at any remixes or edits made to any of the albums’ music. His lawsuit not only includes the three albums he produced, but also the soundtrack to This Is It and two Cirque du Soleil shows.
Jackson’s estate has admitted that an accounting error did cause a disparity in Quincy’s payout, but said it only came to about $392,000, nowhere near the $30 million Quincy alleges he’s owed. As to the outcome of the trial, the estate’s lawyers of course feel they will be paying out millions of undeserved dollars to Quincy Jones, who himself says it was less about Michael and the money and more about, “protecting the integrity of the work we all did in the recording studio and the legacy of what we created.
2017 Mercury Prize Winner Shortlist Announced
This year’s shortlist of Mercury Prize winners has been announced. The Mercury Prize is awarded each year to the British album of the year, created in 1992 as a more enlightened alternative to the Brit awards, which are basically the U.K. equivalent to the Grammys. Former winners include PJ Harvey, Arctic Monkeys, Portishead, and Franz Ferdinand. Included in this year’s shortlist are the xx’s I See You, Kate Tempest’s Let Them Eat Chaos, Relaxer by Alt-J, How to Be a Human Being by Glass Animals, and Ed Sheeran’s ÷. Both the xx and Alt-J are former winners of the prestigious prize, that seems to annually outfit its shortlist with a range of music, but depending on who you ask, doesn’t necessarily tote a winners list reflecting that spectrum. Also nominated this year is grime artist Stormzy, who’s win would mean back-to-back victories for Britain’s rising grime scene, following Skepta’s 2016 win. This year’s winner will be announced at the Merucy Prize’s annual ceremony on September 14th.
