Sony will release an album of 10 previously unreleased Michael Jackson songs in November. This is great news for fans. But for those who worked in the recording studio with the King of Pop, it is bad news.

The release of this album has been confirmed by the Michael Jackson estate. This is not a separate project, because when he passed away, Michael Jackson left behind about 100 previously unreleased songs, and so it is likely that these works will be exploited in turn.

When he was still alive, the pop idol would record a series of songs, usually 20 to 30 tracks. Michael Jackson would then select the best ones. The songs he left aside were mostly compositions that he wasn’t completely satisfied with, or that didn’t fit the theme of the entire album, a small detail that could destroy the overall unity, breaking the red thread that runs through the album.

Among the faces collaborating with Michael Jackson when he reissued the Thriller album on the 25th anniversary of the album’s release are famous RnB authors such as Akon, Ne-Yo or Jay Z, husband of singer Beyoncé, and especially Will.i.am, a founding member of the Black Eyed Peas. Will.i.am is the one who sparked the debate surrounding the songs that will be released this November. According to him, it is not by chance that Michael Jackson is called the King of Pop.

During his lifetime, the singer was known as a perfectionist, concerned with the quality of his recordings, and would re-record a song hundreds of times until he was satisfied. Michael Jackson never released “bad songs”, and would rather erase the song from his album than release a poor quality work. Therefore, according to Will.i.am, the release of the new album is purely for commercial purposes, rather than respecting the wishes of the deceased.

This argument does not seem to have enough weight for the Michael Jackson estate. They believe that the debt left by Michael Jackson is too large ($400 million). Thus, selling the music will help the singer’s family pay off the debt. This is what Sony did when it released the movie This Is It , including the video and music discs exploiting the unfinished film footage.

This is clearly not the first time that producers have tapped into the legacy of a deceased artist through works that have been “left in the closet.” Rock legend Jimi Hendrix died in 1970, but has released 20 albums to date. The most recent is the Valley of Neptune album , which was released a few months ago.

Youth idol Jeff Buckley, who passed away too early at the age of 30, recorded only one album during his lifetime, but it was a lifetime collection of music with the legendary song Hallelujah , which continued to be exploited through about 10 albums. Other names such as Janis Joplin ( Pearl ), Jim Morrison ( An American Prayer ), Bob Marley Freddie Mercury ( Made in Heaven ) all had albums released after their deaths.

For her part, Yoko Ono released John Lennon’s album Milk and Honey , four years after his assassination. More recently, the remaining members of The Beatles released Free as a Bird , an unfinished song by the group with John Lennon’s voice that has never been released.

The problem is that many of the songs are unfinished. Vocal recordings are often demos, or test recordings, or versions sung during rehearsals or on stage. Through dubbing, fragments are stitched together to create the illusion of a complete song, sung from beginning to end.

In the case of Michael Jackson, the album to be released in November is part of a seven-year plan that will include several different albums, which will be released one after another. That’s not to mention memorial projects for the singer on even-numbered death anniversaries. An exploitation that many, including musician Quincy Jones, consider excessive.