William Bottrell

Michael Jackson, the renowned musician and entertainer, possessed a vast archive of unreleased material, encompassing songs, demos, and covers. Many of these recordings were officially registered with organizations like the U.S. Copyright Office and BMI through his company, Mijac Music, indicating planned future releases that did not materialize.

Despite official releases through his studio albums and remix collections, a significant portion of his recorded output, estimated by collaborators like Bill Bottrell to be a small percentage of his total catalog, remains unavailable. Following his death in 2009, further unreleased songs were reportedly discovered, and leaks of unregistered material have surfaced online. Efforts to release his posthumous work, including a substantial deal with Sony Music, have yielded fewer albums than initially planned.

A substantial body of Michael Jackson's musical creations was never officially released to the public. His company, Mijac Music, formally registered many of these unregistered songs with professional entities such as the United States Copyright Office, Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI), and ASCAP. This systematic registration suggests an intention to preserve ownership and potential future exploitation of these works, even if they were not slated for immediate release.

Close associates of Michael Jackson, including producer Bill Bottrell, have indicated the immense scale of his recorded output. Bottrell estimated that Jackson recorded between 1,000 and 2,000 songs throughout his career. He further suggested that only a minor fraction of Jackson's complete musical catalog has been made available to the public, emphasizing the sheer volume of music created during his decades-long career. This perspective highlights the significant potential for unreleased material to exist.

Following Michael Jackson's passing in 2009, efforts to manage and release his unreleased material intensified. Reports emerged of significant caches of unregistered songs being discovered. While a major deal was struck with Sony Music Entertainment for posthumous album releases, the number of albums ultimately issued fell short of the initial ambitious projections, indicating complexities in bringing this extensive archive to market.

“only a small percentage of Michael's full catalog has been released”

“he recorded a lot of music in his 3-decade career”