TJ Jackson's song "Secret" is the second single from his 2021 project: the upcoming album and movie tentatively titled MMM! 

https://ffm.to/secret_

JULIEN'S AUCTIONS IS PROUD TO PRESENT "ICONIC TREASURES FROM THE LEGENDARY CAREER AND LIFE OF JANET JACKSON", AN AUCTION TAKING PLACE IN BEVERLY HILLS AND LIVE ONLINE AT JULIEN'S LIVE ON FRIDAY, MAY 14TH, SATURDAY, MAY 15TH AND SUNDAY, MAY 16TH.

"Iconic Treasures from the Legendary Career and Life of Janet Jackson" honors The Queen of Pop and her ground breaking four decade career that changed music forever and opened the door for an entire generation of music icons who followed her extraordinary path.

Over 1,000 of Janet Jackson's most spectacular music video, tour and television performance worn costumes and ensembles, red carpet appearance gowns as well as personal items and accessories owned and used by the five-time Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter/producer/dancer/actress/author and one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, who has sold over 192 million records worldwide, headlines this three-day auction extravaganza taking place on Jackson's birthday weekend Friday, May 14th, Saturday, May 15th and Sunday, May 16th, 2021.

A portion of the proceeds from the auction will benefit Compassion International, a global child-advocacy ministry that partners with churches around the world to release children from spiritual, economic, social, and physical poverty.

Two Exclusive Limited Edition Box Sets Available to Purchase Below in celebration of this momentous occasion

Acquire your Exclusive Collectors Edition Janet Jackson Auction Catalogue Box Set with a personal video message and audio invitation included from Janet about her special auction.

This is a very special collectors edition for all music lovers! 

https://www.juliensauctions.com/about-auction?id=360

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark A. Young has tentatively dismissed the last of the cases brought by choreographer Wade Robson against the Estate of Michael Jackson. A final ruling will come after a hearing on April 26th.  Robson’s cases against Jackson, his Estate and companies were based on an out of left field claim that he’d been sexually harassed and abused by Jackson when he was a child. But Robson had testified in Jackson’s defense in his 2005 child molestation trial and continued to sing his praises after he died. It was only in 2013 when Robson had been rejected by the Estate to do work on Jackson projects that he made the claims. The claims then became the basis of the film Leaving Neverland. Robson was joined in his lawsuit by James Safechuck, who also made the sexual molestation claims, appeared in the documentary, and so on. His case was dismissed last year. Keep reading for some points from the case. But as you read through the judge’s decision, you’ll see the words “no triable issue.” The case has been essentially tossed. 

Janet Jackson’s socially conscious album Rhythm Nation 1814 is among 25 recordings being inducted to the National Recording Registry. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said they received about 900 public nominations this year for recordings to add to the registry. “The National Recording Registry will preserve our history through these vibrant recordings of music and voices that have reflected our humanity and shaped our culture from the past 143 years,” Hayden said in a statement. According to the New York Times, Janet's album received the most votes in the public nominating process. “Rhythm Nation 1814,” which racked up a then-record seven top five singles including such chart-toppers as “Escapade,” “Miss You Much,” and “Love Will Never Do (Without You),” was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and recorded in the Twin Cities at Jam & Lewis’s Flyte Tyme Studios in Edina. Rhythm Nation 1814 has been certified as six-time platinum by the RIAA. The library selects titles for preservation because of their cultural and historic importance to the American soundscape. The titles have to be at least 10 years old.

Epic Records and Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, announce the second wave of titles in The Jacksons definitive album project. Expanded digital editions (featuring bonus tracks) of the group’s last three Epic studio albums–Triumph (1980), Victory (1984) and 2300 Jackson Street (1989)–will be released Friday, April 30 and available for pre-order starting today. Each album comes with three ‘instant grat’ tracks when preordered.

As part of the project, an exciting new remix of “Can You Feel It” was created by producer/composer Greg Curtis (engineered by Jon Nettlesbey) and executive produced by John McClain:

Can You Feel It: The Jacksons X MLK Remix: Greg Curtis kicks off his production with a roaring drum line and bookends the mix with recordings from the late Martin Luther King’s acclaimed 1968 The Drum Major Instinct speech at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Midway, excerpts from the great Barack Obama’s first inauguration speech inspire. The production is capped with King’s words, “Free at last, Free at last; Thank God Almighty, Free at last.” Listen here.

The Jackson’s definitive album project:

The expanded digital releases of Triumph, Victory and 2300 Jackson Street are available alongside The Jacksons (1976), Goin’ Places (1977) and Destiny (1978), released February 12. The six studio albums recorded by The Jacksons for Epic Records trace the group’s spectacular leap from their Jackson 5 boy band roots to their role as avatars of an R&B/pop revolution (1976-1989). Each title includes the original album in its entirety, bundled with additional bonus tracks and may be ordered here:

https://TheJacksons.lnk.to/TriumphPR

https://TheJacksons.lnk.to/2300JacksonStPR

https://TheJacksons.lnk.to/VictoryPR

A 2LP 12″ vinyl edition of The Jacksons Live! (recorded during their 1981 North American Triumph Tour) will be released on Friday, March 26, and is available for pre-order here.

Click here for more details about Triumph, Victory and 2300 Jackson Street.

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Austin Brown released a long-desired project which is an instrumental jazz piano album titled Heart Over Mind. Check it out, share and enjoy! 

In a press release issued yesterday, the state’s Attorney General, Xavier Becerra, accuses Sony of “shirking responsibility” for making “false and misleading claims” about a posthumously released Michael Jackson album, and then declaring ignorance of their misrepresentation.

The Attorney General also filed an amicus brief with the California Supreme Court, urging them to intervene in the case of Serova vs Sony Music Entertainment, et al., for fear that “broad, destabilising consequences for well-established false advertising principles,” could be felt if it did not take action and rectify a problematic Appeals Court decision in the case.

The lawsuit at the centre of the amicus brief was filed almost 7 years ago. The suit alleges that Sony Music and the Jackson Estate misled consumers when they commercially released the Michael album, comprising 10 tracks, in December 2010.

The plaintiff in the case, Vera Serova, insists that three of the 10 tracks on Michael are part of an elaborate artistic fraud masterminded by co-defendants Eddie Cascio and James Porte, who sold the tracks to Jackson’s Estate for millions of dollars after the superstar’s death. 

Serova alleges that those three tracks, known as the Cascio tracks, are fakes sung by an impostor. And she’s not alone.

Months before the album was released, members of the Jackson family warned Sony and the Estate regarding the Cascio tracks, insisting that they were fakes and should not be released. One of the Estate’s co-executors, John McClain, agreed with the Jackson family.

In response, Sony issued a press release stating that they had “complete confidence in the results of their extensive research” that the vocals were authentic. The company then released the album, including three Cascio tracks, against the family’s wishes.

Sony even went as far as to explicitly inscribe on the album cover that the vocals on all the album’s tracks were “performed by Michael Jackson.”

But despite Sony’s repeated assurances that the vocals were legit, when Jackson’s fans got their hands on the album and heard the Cascio tracks for themselves, a huge controversy ensued. Thousands upon thousands of fans around the world instantly rejected them as fakes.

Ironically, this very controversy – which Sony itself created by releasing the Cascio tracks – is one of the many points the company has since tried to raise as a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Sony says that because thousands of people were questioning the authenticity of the vocals, the company’s claim that Jackson sang them was not commercial in nature, but merely their non-commercial contribution to the ongoing authenticity debate.

But the Attorney General argues that Sony’s logic is absurd. The fact that there were questions over the vocals, the AG says, only increased Sony’s need be sure that the songs were indeed authentic if they intended on claiming they were:

“Questions about the authenticity of songs allegedly recorded by Michael Jackson shortly before his death naturally led to significant interest and debate among fans, members of the media, and the public more generally. That level of interest made it all the more important for Sony to provide accurate information about the songs to consumers.”

The AG added: “It would seriously frustrate the State’s interest in combating false or misleading advertising to immunise a seller from liability merely because its claims bear some relation to a matter of public interest or a public figure.”

Moreover, the Attorney General completely rejects Sony’s claims that their speech wasn’t commercial in nature.

Because the album cover explicitly stated that the songs were “performed by Michael Jackson,” Sony was bound to that statement as being the truth, and could be held liable under consumer protection laws if it were proven otherwise.

“A seller’s description of a product on a label or in an advertisement is a classic form of commercial speech. Thus, assuming Serova’s allegations are true, application of California’s false advertising statutes fully comports with the First Amendment.”

In the press release issued yesterday to alert the media of the California state government’s support of Serova’s lawsuit, Attorney General Becerra said: 

“Products must deliver on their claims. If someone buys an album from a recording artist, they should expect that the songs on the album were made by that artist unless noted otherwise… We must hold companies accountable to stand by their products. Companies have a First Amendment right to communicate, but their claims must be informed and accurate.”

Sometime in mid-February the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office is due to join the California Attorney General and the nine other consumer protection groups already supporting Serova’s case. No amicus brief has been filed in support of Sony or the Jackson Estate.

A date for the oral hearing of these briefs is yet to be set.

A podcast series called Faking Michael is in the works, detailing a decade-long investigation of this case. You can subscribe to Faking Michael on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

Damien Shields is the author of Michael Jackson: Songs & Stories From The Vault – a book examining the King of Pop’s creative process on a collection of previously-unreleased songs which were ultimately released years after his death. The book is available in physical and digital formats via Amazon and iBooks.