天王杰克遜身后再賺2.5億美元

       Months after his death, Michael Jackson set a music-industry record, thanks to a deal between his estate and Sony Corp. valued at as much as $250 million, according to people familiar with the terms。
        離世多月之后，邁克爾•杰克遜(Michael Jackson)創(chuàng)造了音樂行業(yè)的新紀錄。據知情人士透露，這要歸功于他的遺產管理人和索尼公司(Sony Corp.)簽訂的一份價值高達2.5億美元的協議。

　　The deal -- touted by both Sony and Mr. Jackson’s estate as the most lucrative recording contract ever -- guarantees the estate at least $200 million. It will cover 10 albums over seven years, using previously unreleased songs and new packages of familiar ones。
    這份協議被索尼公司和杰克遜的遺產管理人稱為是史上最賺錢的唱片合約。它確保至少兩億美元將歸于杰克遜的遺產之下。它將利用以前未發(fā)表的歌曲以及通過精選集的方式在七年內推出十張專輯。

　　The dollar amount is especially striking against the backdrop of the music industry as a whole, in which U.S. album sales have plunged 52% in a decade. Superstar deals worth tens of millions of dollars per album were rare even at the peak of the CD-sales boom in the late 1990s. Yet it also underscores that the biggest acts are becoming even more essential to record labels, as individual fans purchase fewer albums each year。
    美國專輯唱片銷量十年間下降了52%。在這樣的音樂行業(yè)整體背景下，這一協議金額顯得特別驚人。即便在上世紀90年代CD銷售的熱潮達到頂峰之時，也很少有超級巨星簽訂每張專輯價值數千萬美元的協議。這份協議更彰顯了，隨著個人音樂愛好者購買專輯的數量逐年減少，唱片公司需要進行最大手筆的投入。

　　Since Mr. Jackson’s death on June 25, Sony has sold an estimated 31 million of his albums globally. By the first anniversary of his death, his estate expects to have earned $250 million from sales of music, merchandise and tickets to the posthumous concert film ‘This Is It.’
    自 6月25日杰克遜離世后，索尼公司在全球售出了約3,100萬張他的專輯。預計通過銷售音樂和特許商品以及他離世后上映的音樂會電影《就是這樣》(This Is It)的票房收入，到他去世一周年時，其遺產可賺取2.5億美元。

　　The advances being paid by Sony are to be offset by sales of albums as well as revenue generated by licensing Mr. Jackson’s music for uses like videogames, movies and theatrical performances. But unlike the megadeals struck in recent years by concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment Inc. with Jay-Z and Madonna, the Jackson deal doesn’t give Sony income from merchandise sales or fees for licensing his name and likeness。
    銷售專輯的收入以及通過準許將杰克遜的音樂用于視頻游戲、電影和戲院演出等所產生的特許收入將沖抵索尼公司預先支付的款項。但與音樂會推廣公司Live Nation Entertainment Inc。近幾年與歌手Jay-Z和麥當娜(Madonna)簽訂的百萬美元的大協議不同，杰克遜的協議不包括特許商品的銷售以及對他名字等的特許使用費。

　　In an interview, Rob Stringer, chairman of Sony Music Entertainment’s Columbia/Epic Label Group, said his company was confident it would more than recoup its hefty investment, which he characterized as more than just a record deal. ‘We see it as a partnership,’ Mr. Stringer said。
    索尼音樂旗下的哥倫比亞/Epic集團(Columbia/Epic Label Group)公司董事長斯汀格(Rob Stringer)在接受訪問時說，公司有信心不僅能收回這筆巨額投資，還能盈利。他稱這不僅是一個創(chuàng)紀錄的協議。斯汀格說，我們把它當成一次合作。

　　The deal should give Mr. Jackson’s heirs plenty of breathing room with respect to the crushing debt load he had built up in his final years。
    鑒于杰克遜在最后幾年債臺高筑，這項協議將給杰克遜的繼承人充足的喘息空間。

　　The estate is likely to pay off about $125 million in debt by the end of this year, including $35 million owed to AEG Live, the promoter that was to stage a series of concerts by Mr. Jackson in London. The estate is likely to refinance another $325 million backed by Mr. Jackson's two biggest assets: Sony/ATV Music Publishing, his venture with Sony that owns copyrights to 251 Beatles songs; and his 2,600-acre Neverland Valley Ranch outside Santa Barbara, Calif。
    到今年年底，杰克遜的遺產可以用以還清他欠下的約1.25億美元的債務，其中包括欠AEG Live公司的3500萬美元。這家公司原準備幫助杰克遜在倫敦舉辦一系列的演唱會。杰克遜生前與索尼公司的合資公司Sony/ATV Music Publishing擁有披頭士樂隊(Beatles) 251首歌曲的版權。位于加州圣巴巴拉郊外的夢幻莊園(Neverland Valley Ranch)占地2,600英畝。杰克遜這兩項最大的資產可能將給他的遺產再帶來3.25億美元的收入。

　　A $300 million loan backed by Sony/ATV and held by Barclays PLC matures at the end of the year, and before Mr. Jackson’s death it loomed as a major financial challenge。
由Sony/ATV公司擔保并由巴克萊公司(Barclays PLC)提供的一筆三億美元的貸款將于今年年底到期。在杰克遜生前，這筆貸款是他的一個主要的財務問題。

　　In striking the deal, Sony is betting that the appetite for Mr. Jackson’s music will prove more than just a spike generated by his unexpected death and the ensuing round-the-clock coverage. A record contract struck in the early 1980s gave Mr. Jackson ownership of his recordings. Sony had the right to distribute those recordings through 2015. The new deal extends that right until 2017, and adds the rights to material recorded since then。
    索尼公司簽訂這項協議押注人們對杰克遜音樂的興趣不僅僅是由他的意外死亡及之后的不間斷報道造成的曇花一現。上世紀80年代初簽訂的一項唱片合約讓杰克遜擁有自己唱片的所有權。索尼原本有權在2015年以前銷售這些唱片。新協議把索尼公司的銷售權延長到2017年，杰克遜在上世紀80年代之后錄制的音樂素材也被囊括其中。

　　The new deal, like the one from the 1980s, was negotiated by John Branca, Mr. Jackson’s long-time lawyer and now an administrator of the estate。
　  新協議與80年代的協議均由長期擔任杰克遜律師的布蘭卡(John Branca)負責談判。他現在是杰克遜的遺產管理人。

　　The deal retroactively covers the soundtrack album to ‘This Is It,’ plus a range of other releases, some of which have been mapped out, with others to be determined later. An album of previously unreleased songs is likely to hit stores before the end of this year, and another collection is due out later. The deal is also likely to cover expanded reissues of Mr. Jackson’s albums ‘Off the Wall’ and ‘Bad,’ as well as collections of remixes. A DVD album of all of Mr. Jackson’s music videos is likely to be created at some point。
    協議中涵蓋了杰克遜大量的音樂專輯，包括他生前的最后一張專輯《就是這樣》(This Is It)，以及其它許多版本的作品，其中一部分已列入發(fā)行計劃，其它的以后待定。一張由以前未發(fā)行過的歌曲組成的專輯可能將在今年年底前上市銷售，另一張合集計劃稍后再進行發(fā)售。協議可能還包括擴大再發(fā)行杰克遜的“Off the Wall”和“Bad”這兩張專輯，以及混錄版的合集。日后也可能會推出囊括所有杰克遜的音樂電視(MV)的DVD專輯。

　　Speculation has circulated that Cirque du Soleil would create a Las Vegas show based on Mr. Jackson’s music, as it has done with Beatles’ music. If it does, a soundtrack of some kind would likely be part of the deal。
　　外界一直在猜測太陽馬戲團(Cirque du Soleil)將根據杰克遜的音樂編排它在拉斯維加斯演出的節(jié)目。它之前曾利用披頭士樂隊的音樂編排過自己的節(jié)目。如果它真的這么做，此類配樂可能也是這個協議的一部分。

　　The estate could probably wipe out the debts entirely by selling its half of Sony/ATV, although such a drastic step is viewed as unlikely now that Mr. Jackson’s posthumous business is generating so much cash。
　　杰克遜生前擁有Sony/ATV公司一半的股份。只要把股份賣了，就能清償其全部債務，但既然杰克遜身后的生意賺了這么多錢，看來不太可能使用這種極端的手段。

　　Mr. Jackson acquired ATV for $47.5 million in 1985. Sony in 1995 paid $150 million to become a 50% partner in the venture. Mr. Jackson's half is now valued at at least $1 billion。
    杰克遜1985年以4,750萬美元購得ATV。1995年，索尼以1.5億美元的代價成為其合伙人，擁有合資公司50%的股份。杰克遜的股份現在至少價值10億美元。

　　Ethan Smith