Music Roundup

Michael Jackson’s estate has signed what is reportedly the biggest recording deal in the history of the music industry.

It’s been reported that Jackson’s estate has signed a contract with Sony Music worth more than $200 million. The deal reportedly involves the production of 10 various album projects over a seven-year period, including one album that will include previously unreleased material.

Jackson had been signed with Sony since the late 1970s and this deal would continue that long-term relationship. Although Jackson had a long-standing relationship with Sony, Jackson’s relationship with the music giant had become strained when Jackson borrowed millions of dollars from the music company. Some believe this deal will help Jackson’s estate repay some of the money Jackson himself borrowed.

According to sources close to Jackson’s estate, the contract will run through 2017 and could be worth up to $250 million.  The first album is set to be released in November and will include never-before released recordings from Jackson. Some of the future projects that might come out of the agreement include a DVD compilation of the videos, a re-release of Jackson’s “Off the Wall” which came out in 1979, and a video game.

According to people close to Jackson’s estate, before Jackson died in June of 2009, he had indicated a desire to re-issue “Off the Wall”.

“During his life, Michael’s contracts set the standard for the industry,” said John Branca, co-administrator of Jackson’s estate in a Tuesday press release. “By all objective criteria, this agreement with Sony Music demonstrates the lasting power of Michael’s music by exceeding all previous industry benchmarks.”

Some other benchmarks set in the music industry pale in comparison to this new contract. They include all rights deals that Live Nation Entertainment previously had with Jay Z for $150 million and Madonna for $120 million.

Those deals included royalties from merchandise, which Jackson’s does not include.

Many believe the money will be used primarily for settling Jackson’s debts, which are estimated to be around $400 million but the estate has already made money from “This is It”, which has already grossed $252 million worldwide, the most any concert film has ever grossed.

Fans of “American Idol” are griping via email and internet postings today about the singers who have made it to the final 12; there were several surprise eliminations on Thursday night.

Alex Lambert, Todrick Hall, Katelyn Epperly and Lilly Scott were all eliminated on Thursday, leaving judges shaking their heads in surprise and shock and the other “AI” contestants speechless. Scott, in particular, was highlighted as one of the contenders expected to go the distance.

Epperly, who had just begun to show her competitive flair with her song choices and performance chops, made a bit of a misstep in her performance of Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move,” and she was eliminated Thursday.

“It was definitely a great experience,” she said after her elimination, “and I’ve learned a ton. I’m not stopping now.”

The elimination that brought the most head shaking, however, was Scott’s. She was seen from the beginning as a contender to win it all, and her elimination shocked the judges and Scott herself.

“I thought that I was appealing to a lot of people,” Scott said Thursday. “It’s surprising; a lot of incredible talent is going home tonight. I don’t know what America wants to hear, I don’t. I just know that there’s an audience out there for me.”

The final 12 contestants include Crystal Bowersox, who Simon Cowell noted is the “one to beat” after her performance this week. But as this week has shown, voters can often overrule the judges’ preferences.

The other final contenders include: Lacey Brown, Andrew Garcia, Casey James, Didi Benami, Lee Dewyze, Siobhan Magnus, Tim Urban, Paige Miles, Aaron Kelly, Katie Stevens, and Michael Lynche.

The show now moves to the famous Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles until the May finale. Tuesday’s show will feature the music of the Rolling Stones.

Two songs that sit at the top of the charts offer very different messages to young girls. While it might seem that Orianthi’s “According to You” is preferable to Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok”, I see it as just the opposite. Because while I don’t condone the promo for a party-girl lifestyle that Ke$ha spouts, I much prefer her girl-in-charge focus to Orianthi’s diatribe about what boys think of her.

Let’s look at Orianthi’s message a bit. She laments what an ex tells her about herself and delights in highlighting what the new man thinks. Here’s a sampling:

“According to you, I’m stupid, I’m useless

I can’t do anything right

According to you I’m difficult, hard to please

Forever changing my mind”

And it goes on:

“But according to him I’m beautiful, incredible

He can’t get me out of his head

According to him I’m funny, irresistible

Everything he ever wanted.”

So while it might seem at first that Orianthi is throwing her new man’s appreciation for her into her ex-boyfriend’s face, it actually sounds a bit too much like she’s defining herself by what these boys or men think of her. She never mentions herself, as in “according to me, I’m fabulous.”

Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok”, on other hand, can be a bit offensive to parents. After all, who wants their child to listen to a girl who claims to brush her “teeth with a bottle of Jack,” because when she leaves for the night she “ain’t comin’ back”?

But, let’s examine her message further. “Tik Tok” is a feminist anthem for party girls the world over. They are in charge of their fun, their evening and even the men who come along to crash their party.

“And now the dudes are lining up because they hear we got swagger

But we kick ‘em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger”

(Shouldn’t that be “IF they look like Mick Jagger? But I digress.)

Ke$ha’s party girl even argues that “the party don’t start ‘til I walk in.” How can you argue with that kind of confidence?

Although it’s not necessarily a positive thing for kids to hear someone make a positive case for partying all night and picking up random strangers, that’s easier to explain to children and teens than the message that you’re not good and right and worthy unless some boy says you are.