'Endless' accumulation of music in Jackson's vaults

NEW YORK – Michael Jackson had a abundance of unreleased recordings in the basement back he died — music that is about assertive to be packaged and repackaged for his admirers in the years to come.

The actual includes bare advance from flat sessions of some of Jackson's best albums, as able-bodied as added afresh recorded songs fabricated with Senegalese R&B accompanist and ambassador Akon and Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am.

"There are dozens and dozens of songs that did not end up on his albums," said Tommy Mottola, who from 1998 to 2003 was administrator and CEO of Sony Music, which owns the administration rights to Jackson's music. "People will be audition a lot of that unreleased actual for the aboriginal time ever. There's aloof some ability and accuracy in there."

The releases, Mottola said, "could go on for years and years — alike added than Elvis."

Since Jackson's afterlife Thursday, there has been an enormous, about aberrant appeal for the King of Pop's music. Nielsen SoundScan said Wednesday that three of his annal — "Number Ones," "Essential Michael Jackson" and "Thriller — were the accustomed albums of the week, and 2.3 actor advance of his accept been downloaded in the U.S. alone.

When a music brilliant of Jackson's ability dies, labels about adjust through their athenaeum to cull out annihilation they can release. New abstracts of recordings by performers such as Elvis, Tupac and Jeff Buckley are still appear about every year.

Mottola, who has declared himself as the "shepherd and gatekeeper" of Jackson's archive and is accustomed with it bigger than anyone, said that for every anthology Jackson fabricated — including abstract like 1979's "Off the Wall" and 1982's "Thriller" — he recorded several advance that didn't accomplish it assimilate the records.

(Mottola had alone acclamatory things to say about Jackson, who criticized Mottola in 2002 as a racist. Among those who dedicated Mottola at the time was the Rev. Al Sharpton.)

The capacity of who owns Jackson's unreleased music and concert footage are not absolutely clear. Sony Music beneath to comment. A actuality complex with the characterization who requested anonymity said no new projects or abstracts are actuality planned yet.

The Jackson ancestors has not about discussed affairs for Jackson's catalog. In a 2002 will filed in cloister Wednesday, the pop brilliant larboard his absolute acreage to a ancestors trust, with his mother and his accouchement called as beneficiaries.

Steve Gordon, an ball advocate and columnist of "The Future of the Music Business," formed at Sony Music during the 1990s. He said he was at Sony back Jackson's aftermost arrangement was negotiated, admitting he accustomed it could accept afresh been updated.

Gordon said Jackson owns some of his adept recordings, while others are endemic in affiliation with Sony. Regardless, he said, Sony retains absolute administration rights for annihilation Jackson produced during the appellation of their contract.

Gordon said he expects Sony's Legacy Recordings analysis to do article agnate to what it did with Elvis and actualize a analysis absolutely for Jackson's catalog.

"They've done every affectionate of agreement to try to clasp added money out of the archive with Elvis and they'll do it with Michael Jackson — be abiding of it," Gordon said. "I brainstorm that there's a ... amount of concert recordings that may or may not accept been released."

Jackson's aftermost aboriginal anthology was 2001's "Invincible." His 2005 adolescent agitation balloon and added controversies absent him from recording, but he was alive in contempo years.

He died aloof weeks afore he was to accomplish 50 concerts at London's O2 amphitheatre in what was declared to be his comeback. He had additionally amorphous alive on new material.

Two weeks afore he died, he captivated up assignment on an busy assembly dubbed the "Dome Project," which could be the final accomplished video allotment overseen by Jackson. Two bodies with ability of the activity accepted its actuality Monday to The Associated Press on action they not be articular because they active acquaintance agreements.

Four sets were complete for Jackson's production, including a cemetery abandoning his acclaimed "Thriller" video. Shooting for the activity lasted from June 1 to June 9. Now in post-production, the activity is accepted to be completed abutting month.

Last year, Jackson appear "Thriller 25," an anthology appearance the 25th ceremony of the album. It included the new song "For All Time," as able-bodied as bristles remixes that complex will.i.am, Kanye West, Akon and Fergie.

The Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am has said he and Jackson recorded several songs together. He told the BBC on Monday that Jackson had control of their demos, and that the songs "demanded all the bodies to the ball floor."

Akon had hoped to complete an anthology with Jackson already he accomplished his London concerts. The accompanist said they acclimated to accommodated in Las Vegas whenever they had the time, and would allocution on the buzz consistently about account for the album.

Akon said they never absolutely completed a song except for "Hold My Hand," which leaked aftermost year. "All the added songs were aloof ideas," Akon said.

He said he will accumulate the song bits — a choir here, a ballad there — "locked up in the vault" until the Jackson ancestors decides how to proceed. He said it could be formed into a accolade album.

"It was all absolute annal — songs to boost people, songs to accomplish bodies anticipate about the problems in life," Akon said. "It was all about bringing bodies together."