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Post by aazzaabb on Apr 20, 2024 13:25:18 GMT
I’ve come to understand Branca in the past 12 months. Everything he does is for the interest of the estate in a financial sense. You simply cannot argue with the money statistics. Is he arrogant, narcissistic, power hungry? Yup. But you simply have to be in that game of big business.Everybody wants a piece of Michael Jackson whatever way they can get it and you need a Branca at the front door.
As much as I’d love X,Y,Z, the Michael Jackson machine is a different beast all together. There’s different obstacles, opposition, and business opportunities to face. Branca has chosen to play the long game and ultimately he’s probably right.
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Post by respect77 on Apr 20, 2024 14:04:17 GMT
Branca is so young here. ETA: Sorry, now I seem to have a problem with embedding somehow, so here it is again with the "X" URL. x.com/appleheadway/status/1781564765602783345Anyway, for all the hate Branca gets in this fandom I think a lot of it is unjustified and over the top. I think overall he was one of the people in MJ's life who actually had his interest at heart and mostly gave him sound advice that benefitted him. Yeah, the Cascio songs fiasco is ugly and I wish some things have been handled differently since MJ's death, but that's not a reason for me to think he was a bad force in MJ's life. Yeah, I agree. A lot of fans hang on the claim Branca was conspiring against MJ's interests with Sony so MJ fired him. Problem is, LeGrand investigated that for MJ and didn't find that as he testified under oath in 2005. Michael went on to rehire Branca afterwards as we can see from TUC. It seems Michael had been listening to rumours, likely from those who wanted to force people like Branca out of his life in order to take advantage of Michael. That speaks volumes. Yeah fans seem to be stuck in the early 2000s when I'm not sure MJ had the best judgement of character and surrounded himself with the best people at the time. They were whispering all kinds of things in his ear that I don't think benefitted him. Bringing in crooks like Schaffel (a freaking low life porn producer!) and Wiesner, while firing his old people like Branca. Forgive me if I won't go by how his judgement was during that period. And like you said Branca haters ignore that he later rehired Branca. |
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Post by respect77 on Apr 20, 2024 14:18:39 GMT
I’ve come to understand Branca in the past 12 months. Everything he does is for the interest of the estate in a financial sense. You simply cannot argue with the money statistics. Is he arrogant, narcissistic, power hungry? Yup. But you simply have to be in that game of big business.Everybody wants a piece of Michael Jackson whatever way they can get it and you need a Branca at the front door. As much as I’d love X,Y,Z, the Michael Jackson machine is a different beast all together. There’s different obstacles, opposition, and business opportunities to face. Branca has chosen to play the long game and ultimately he’s probably right. Yeah, I understand that hard core fans want different type of projects but the ones that are aimed at the general public (This Is It, Cirque du Soleil, musical) rather than hard core fans so far have been mostly successful. We'll see the biopic but if it will generate the same kind of response the trailer did it's promising too. It's a huge risk because the allegations will always make a part of the media actively campaign against MJ, but that's something not in Branca's control. Now, what hard core fans want are mostly the unreleased songs, album anniversary editions (of the 90s albums too, not just 80s) etc, but I noticed I'm not that excited about those any more. I mean if we get them, cool, but MJ was good at quality control so it's not like I find myself listening to the ones that already came out nearly as much as I listen to the discography that came out during MJ's lifetime. How much y'all still listen to the Thriller 40 demos, for example? Be honest. And the general public cares even less of unreleased material. As far as I'm concerned MJ's discography is complete and I'm content with it as it is. Of course, out if curiosity I listen to the demos and unreleased songs that get a release, but I don't think it's the holy grail of keeping MJ's legacy alive like a lot of hard core fans seem to think. A successful musical or a successful biopic probably has a lot more potential there. Projects like those what remind people of his greatness. |
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Post by Snow White on Apr 20, 2024 14:30:48 GMT
I don't remember how I ended up going back and forth around 2014 or 2015 with Jamon from the MJcast on FB regarding Branca. Basically I was saying that even though the Cascio songs were a horrible decision on his part, Branca wasn't fraudulent and a bad figure in Michael's life overall and had Vera Serova agreeing with me even though she was the one suing Sony for the fake songs. 😆 There's no reasoning with the MJcast guys, the agenda and hatred they have for Branca is deep engrained and irrational at this point even if the track record showed what I just mentioned.
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Post by WildStyle on Apr 20, 2024 15:44:34 GMT
The estate projects have been mostly shit and too few and far between. Thriller 40 was a fail. Sorry, not going to join the Branca love train.
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Post by elusivemoonwalker on Apr 20, 2024 19:32:51 GMT
Seriously ive got seany o kanes mj innocent account on twitter having a go at me because i dared to criticize their support of matt fiddes. Daring to question my fandom because i only set up an account so i could follow respect and tscm posts as it wouldnt let me read without one. I dont do twitter bar the basics as said above.heck I remember when seany turned up on the scene acting like he was the best thing since sliced bread 🤦🏼♂️and getting kicked off big brother in two mins. Silly f*** was prob in nappies when i was on message boards defending MJ yet they think im not a fan cause im not sat in twitter defending mj against every weirdo thats on it. And god forbid i criticize fiddes.I think ive paid my dues since the early 90’s writing letters to newspapers and been on message boards🤦🏼♂️
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Post by aazzaabb on Apr 20, 2024 22:05:47 GMT
I’ve come to understand Branca in the past 12 months. Everything he does is for the interest of the estate in a financial sense. You simply cannot argue with the money statistics. Is he arrogant, narcissistic, power hungry? Yup. But you simply have to be in that game of big business.Everybody wants a piece of Michael Jackson whatever way they can get it and you need a Branca at the front door. As much as I’d love X,Y,Z, the Michael Jackson machine is a different beast all together. There’s different obstacles, opposition, and business opportunities to face. Branca has chosen to play the long game and ultimately he’s probably right. Yeah, I understand that hard core fans want different type of projects but the ones that are aimed at the general public (This Is It, Cirque du Soleil, musical) rather than hard core fans so far have been mostly successful. We'll see the biopic but if it will generate the same kind of response the trailer did it's promising too. It's a huge risk because the allegations will always make a part of the media actively campaign against MJ, but that's something not in Branca's control. Now, what hard core fans want are mostly the unreleased songs, album anniversary editions (of the 90s albums too, not just 80s) etc, but I noticed I'm not that excited about those any more. I mean if we get them, cool, but MJ was good at quality control so it's not like I find myself listening to the ones that already came out nearly as much as I listen to the discography that came out during MJ's lifetime. How much y'all still listen to the Thriller 40 demos, for example? Be honest. And the general public cares even less of unreleased material. As far as I'm concerned MJ's discography is complete and I'm content with it as it is. Of course, out if curiosity I listen to the demos and unreleased songs that get a release, but I don't think it's the holy grail of keeping MJ's legacy alive like a lot of hard core fans seem to think. A successful musical or a successful biopic probably has a lot more potential there. Projects like those what remind people of his greatness. Yeah, very true. You make a similar point that TonyR has been making for years. I used to be obsessed with wanting unreleased tracks and big box sets but if I’m honest, going back as far as the 2001 Special Edition CD’s and The Ultimate Collection, there’s only really a handful of rare tracks that I really love, and the majority of unreleased tracks on Bad25, Thriller40, I’ve found underwhelming. Now, that said, I really liked the Bad25 set with the Wembley show and 2 booklets. And much to my surprise I really liked Xscape. Sure, it’s novelty and generic perhaps but I just really liked the entire campaign and enjoyed hearing MJ on the radio with Love Never Felt So Good. I enjoyed it for what it was. I think now at the ripe old age of 45 I would take one great track over a dozen below average tracks. For example I think Chicago 1945 has massive potential and would make for a great promotional track for say, the biopic or attached to some other big project. And also we are getting older now Respect and perhaps a little more sentimental. The biopic is something I’m genuinely excited about. |
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Post by aazzaabb on Apr 20, 2024 22:08:02 GMT
Seriously ive got seany o kanes mj innocent account on twitter having a go at me because i dared to criticize their support of matt fiddes. Daring to question my fandom because i only set up an account so i could follow respect and tscm posts as it wouldnt let me read without one. I dont do twitter bar the basics as said above.heck I remember when seany turned up on the scene acting like he was the best thing since sliced bread 🤦🏼♂️and getting kicked off big brother in two mins. Silly f*** was prob in nappies when i was on message boards defending MJ yet they think im not a fan cause im not sat in twitter defending mj against every weirdo thats on it. And god forbid i criticize fiddes.I think ive paid my dues since the early 90’s writing letters to newspapers and been on message boards🤦🏼♂️ I think you’ve paid your dues. 😎 |
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Post by SoCav on Apr 20, 2024 22:23:40 GMT
Yeah, I understand that hard core fans want different type of projects but the ones that are aimed at the general public (This Is It, Cirque du Soleil, musical) rather than hard core fans so far have been mostly successful. We'll see the biopic but if it will generate the same kind of response the trailer did it's promising too. It's a huge risk because the allegations will always make a part of the media actively campaign against MJ, but that's something not in Branca's control. Now, what hard core fans want are mostly the unreleased songs, album anniversary editions (of the 90s albums too, not just 80s) etc, but I noticed I'm not that excited about those any more. I mean if we get them, cool, but MJ was good at quality control so it's not like I find myself listening to the ones that already came out nearly as much as I listen to the discography that came out during MJ's lifetime. How much y'all still listen to the Thriller 40 demos, for example? Be honest. And the general public cares even less of unreleased material. As far as I'm concerned MJ's discography is complete and I'm content with it as it is. Of course, out if curiosity I listen to the demos and unreleased songs that get a release, but I don't think it's the holy grail of keeping MJ's legacy alive like a lot of hard core fans seem to think. A successful musical or a successful biopic probably has a lot more potential there. Projects like those what remind people of his greatness. Yeah, very true. You make a similar point that TonyR has been making for years. I used to be obsessed with wanting unreleased tracks and big box sets but if I’m honest, going back as far as the 2001 Special Edition CD’s and The Ultimate Collection, there’s only really a handful of rare tracks that I really love, and the majority of unreleased tracks on Bad25, Thriller40, I’ve found underwhelming. Now, that said, I really liked the Bad25 set with the Wembley show and 2 booklets. And much to my surprise I really liked Xscape. Sure, it’s novelty and generic perhaps but I just really liked the entire campaign and enjoyed hearing MJ on the radio with Love Never Felt So Good. I enjoyed it for what it was. I think now at the ripe old age of 45 I would take one great track over a dozen below average tracks. For example I think Chicago 1945 has massive potential and would make for a great promotional track for say, the biopic or attached to some other big project. And also we are getting older now Respect and perhaps a little more sentimental. The biopic is something I’m genuinely excited about. Imo a lot of it has to do with how the material has been presented. Almost all of the demos that have come out (actually quite a lot by now) have been released without any fanfare, in tampered form or indefensibly crap quality. Had they been treated like the little gems that they are, then I think a lot of people would have had way more interest in them. Because if you don't particularly like a song, there's always an interesting backstory that could be told which could give more insight into how MJ worked, and how the albums that finally were released and went on to make history came to be. It's a finite supply of material and they've wasted so much of it. There's still quite a bit left, including demos of songs that did get released - more than enough to create interesting projects around. But it's a shame we got to know killer songs like Hollywood Tonight the way we did. And this is why I'm definitely not jumping on the Branca bandwagon either. |
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Post by aazzaabb on Apr 20, 2024 22:38:07 GMT
Yeah, very true. You make a similar point that TonyR has been making for years. I used to be obsessed with wanting unreleased tracks and big box sets but if I’m honest, going back as far as the 2001 Special Edition CD’s and The Ultimate Collection, there’s only really a handful of rare tracks that I really love, and the majority of unreleased tracks on Bad25, Thriller40, I’ve found underwhelming. Now, that said, I really liked the Bad25 set with the Wembley show and 2 booklets. And much to my surprise I really liked Xscape. Sure, it’s novelty and generic perhaps but I just really liked the entire campaign and enjoyed hearing MJ on the radio with Love Never Felt So Good. I enjoyed it for what it was. I think now at the ripe old age of 45 I would take one great track over a dozen below average tracks. For example I think Chicago 1945 has massive potential and would make for a great promotional track for say, the biopic or attached to some other big project. And also we are getting older now Respect and perhaps a little more sentimental. The biopic is something I’m genuinely excited about. Imo a lot of it has to do with how the material has been presented. Almost all of the demos that have come out (actually quite a lot by now) have been released without any fanfare, in tampered form or indefensibly crap quality. Had they been treated like the little gems that they are, then I think a lot of people would have had way more interest in them. Because if you don't particularly like a song, there's always an interesting backstory that could be told which could give more insight into how MJ worked, and how the albums that finally were released and went on to make history came to be. It's a finite supply of material and they've wasted so much of it. There's still quite a bit left, including demos of songs that did get released - more than enough to create interesting projects around. But it's a shame we got to know killer songs like Hollywood Tonight the way we did. And this is why I'm definitely not jumping on the Branca bandwagon either. Yeah I definitely agree with you and more power to you pal. I think I’m just gone past caring the way I once did. I suppose really more than anything my dream for MJ’s legacy is that his name and reputation are cleared and reinstated. Anything else is a bonus. I’ve let go of my animosity towards Branca. While I don’t agree with everything the estate has done, I’ve moved on. I’m not willing to expand negative energy anymore because for one thing it’s completely out of my hands and for another I’m pretty happy in life, and if the biopic goes a certain way to restoring MJ’s reputation in that people will come to more of an understanding of who he was then that’s the path I want to travel. |
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Yaza
Wondering Who
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Post by Yaza on Apr 20, 2024 23:24:22 GMT
I disagree that the demos released received little fanfare, they perform really well on YouTube and routinely do the rounds on social media as evidence of Michael’s unique song-writing process.
The estate has done a good job with large-scale profitable projects geared towards the general public but they have neglected projects on the more creative side that fans of his music would appreciate. I assume that because they make so much return from these big projects, their stance is that concentrating time and effort on smaller projects is ineffective.
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Post by aazzaabb on Apr 21, 2024 0:38:31 GMT
I disagree that the demos released received little fanfare, they perform really well on YouTube and routinely do the rounds on social media as evidence of Michael’s unique song-writing process. The estate has done a good job with large-scale profitable projects geared towards the general public but they have neglected projects on the more creative side that fans of his music would appreciate. I assume that because they make so much return from these big projects, their stance is that concentrating time and effort on smaller projects is ineffective. Yes. They’ve definitely always been about the large-scale profitable projects. I remember when Bad25 was released there was a very average review in one of the UK music magazines. Possibly it was in the now defunct Q Magazine. It contained the usual snooty remarks and if I remember correctly remarked that MJ resembled a ladyboy. Honestly, only with MJ have they ever gotten away with such grossly unfair and offensive remarks. I couldn’t imagine the music press giving a Michael Jackson super deluxe box set a fair review. Not that MJ needs them. A lot of them would probably outright not even review it. I could see a review in The Guardian using it as an opportunity to virtue signal and take the usual self righteous indignation approach. |
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Post by respect77 on Apr 21, 2024 3:56:32 GMT
Seriously ive got seany o kanes mj innocent account on twitter having a go at me because i dared to criticize their support of matt fiddes. Daring to question my fandom because i only set up an account so i could follow respect and tscm posts as it wouldnt let me read without one. I dont do twitter bar the basics as said above.heck I remember when seany turned up on the scene acting like he was the best thing since sliced bread 🤦🏼♂️and getting kicked off big brother in two mins. Silly f*** was prob in nappies when i was on message boards defending MJ yet they think im not a fan cause im not sat in twitter defending mj against every weirdo thats on it. And god forbid i criticize fiddes.I think ive paid my dues since the early 90’s writing letters to newspapers and been on message boards🤦🏼♂️ A few days ago he declared his own account the best MJ defense account on X. While he's absolutely ignorant even about the most basic things. For example, the other day he was trying to raise havoc because he found out that supposedly Jesus Salas still works at Neverland. And he was a prosecution witness in 2005. So he was trying to rile up the fandom against him and the Estate for still employing him (I'm not even sure it's the Estate that employs him, Neverland has been bought by Ron Burke). This fool doesn't know that witnesses don't get to choose which side calls them and just because someone was called by the prosecution it doesn't mean they were hostile to MJ. Salas wasn't. Just like several other prosecution witnesses (the flight attendant, George Lopez, Kiki Fournier Debbie Rowe etc) their testimonies were actually good for the defense. Luckily Charles also jumped in to explain it to him how it works, so he deleted the tweet. But this dude is going around saying his own account is the best MJ defense/innocence advocacy account on X. And this is just one example of how much of a fool Seany is. His ignorance is only topped by his narcissism. He acts like he's some leader of MJ's defense on X and he talks in plural ("we at MJInnoncentUK concluded" etc) as if his account is some organization. He's cringe af. Not long ago he also attacked another new fan account, accusing them of being a hater without any evidence. (I haven't seen any hater stuff on their account and Seany couldn't provide anything either.) I recently learned that Seany was in Big Brother (Ireland or UK, I don't know) a few years ago and he seems like a massive attention seeker to me. |
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Post by respect77 on Apr 21, 2024 4:24:52 GMT
Yeah, very true. You make a similar point that TonyR has been making for years. I used to be obsessed with wanting unreleased tracks and big box sets but if I’m honest, going back as far as the 2001 Special Edition CD’s and The Ultimate Collection, there’s only really a handful of rare tracks that I really love, and the majority of unreleased tracks on Bad25, Thriller40, I’ve found underwhelming. Now, that said, I really liked the Bad25 set with the Wembley show and 2 booklets. And much to my surprise I really liked Xscape. Sure, it’s novelty and generic perhaps but I just really liked the entire campaign and enjoyed hearing MJ on the radio with Love Never Felt So Good. I enjoyed it for what it was. I think now at the ripe old age of 45 I would take one great track over a dozen below average tracks. For example I think Chicago 1945 has massive potential and would make for a great promotional track for say, the biopic or attached to some other big project. And also we are getting older now Respect and perhaps a little more sentimental. The biopic is something I’m genuinely excited about. Imo a lot of it has to do with how the material has been presented. Almost all of the demos that have come out (actually quite a lot by now) have been released without any fanfare, in tampered form or indefensibly crap quality. Had they been treated like the little gems that they are, then I think a lot of people would have had way more interest in them. Because if you don't particularly like a song, there's always an interesting backstory that could be told which could give more insight into how MJ worked, and how the albums that finally were released and went on to make history came to be. It's a finite supply of material and they've wasted so much of it. There's still quite a bit left, including demos of songs that did get released - more than enough to create interesting projects around. But it's a shame we got to know killer songs like Hollywood Tonight the way we did. And this is why I'm definitely not jumping on the Branca bandwagon either. MJ fans often refer to the Prince posthumous releases as to how it's done right. Notwithstanding the fact the Prince Estate has a lot more material to work with in that regard, I haven't really seen those Prince unreleased songs set the world afire either no matter how well those releases were done. I think such things are simply only interest the hard core fandom. Not saying the hardcore fandom shouldn't get anything but my argument is simply that I stopped looking at the release of formerly unreleased material as the holy grail of how to manage a posthumous career. Those things don't actually move that much for keeping up a legacy IMO. They mainly remain in the bubble of the hard core fandom. Now a musical, a biopic on the other hand... I actually have more criticism for the Estate for not updating more of MJ's videos to HQ/4K on YouTube. MJ was the king of music videos it's inexcusable that Billie Jean or Smooth Criminal or Bad etc is still in 480p. |
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Post by Snow White on Apr 21, 2024 4:34:13 GMT
Seany is a wanker and a joke. Too bad he's associated with the MJInnocent movement that went viral after LN.
Changing a bit the subject. I was thinking about the YT channel that was uploading an 1984 interview that was probably used in part for the Moonwalk book but was taken down for copyright. I grant that it's wrong to monetise at MJ's expense, I think that Celebrity Classified channel charged their subscribers for exclusive MJ content, yet you have such channels as The Detail monetising with Michael heavily from tabloid crap content. It amazes me it still has such amount of views.
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