Michael Jackson signs record deal (SEPTEMBER 2010, OPTION B)
THEASSOCIATEDPRESS- The King of Pop's estate has signed the biggest recording deal in history: a $200 million guaranteed contract with Sony Music Entertainment for 10 projects over seven years, according to a person familiar with the deal.
Jackson performs during his 13-city U.S. tour in Kansas City, Mo. The estate of Michael Jackson has landed the late King of Pop the biggest recording deal in history: a $200 million guaranteed contract with Sony Music Entertainment for 10 projects over seven years, according to a person familiar with the deal. The record-breaking contract through 2017 could be worth up to $250 million if certain conditions are met. One of the albums will be of never-before-released Jackson recordings that will come out in November, the person said.The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the official announcement is expected later Tuesday.
One of the projects already counted in the contract was the two-disc album that accompanied "This Is It," the film based on footage of concert rehearsals for what was to have been Jackson's comeback at London's O2 arena.
Including the more than 5 million copies of that special release, Jackson has sold some 31 million albums since his death, about two-thirds of them outside the United States.
"During his life, Michael's contracts set the standard for the industry," said John Branca, the co-administrator of the Jackson estate, in a statement prepared for release Tuesday. "By all objective criteria, this agreement with Sony Music demonstrates the lasting power of Michael's music by exceeding all previous industry benchmarks."
Rob Stringer, chairman of Sony Music's Columbia Epic Label Group, said in prepared remarks, "We're dedicated to protecting this icon's legacy and we're thrilled that we can continue to bring his music to the world for the foreseeable future."
The landmark deal is worth more than all other benchmarks, such as the all-encompassing rights deals that concert promoter and ticket-seller Live Nation Entertainment Inc. had previously signed with Madonna at $120 million and Jay-Z for $150 million.
Jackson's deal is even more remarkable because it does not include royalties from merchandise.
The contract shows the value of legacy artists. It also comes at a time of decline for the music industry, with sales down about half from their peak in 2000 mainly due to free file-swapping.
The money will go a long way to settling Jackson's debts, estimated at around $400 million when he died. But the singer whose life was plagued with scandal has had a resurgence in popularity in death.
Distribution rights for "This Is It" were sold to Sony Pictures, another unit of Sony Corp., for $60 million and the movie went on to gross $252 million worldwide, the most of any concert film ever.
Revenue from that, song sales and merchandising agreements brought into the estate revenues of about $100 million, lawyers for the estate's administrators told a Los Angeles Superior Court judge in December, when they sought a percentage as an administration fee.
The Walt Disney Co. even brought back the 17-minute Jackson movie "Captain EO" to its Disneyland theme park in Anaheim last month. The original began running at the park in 1986 but was pulled in 1997.
Jackson's most lasting and valuable asset is the 50 percent stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a company that owns publishing rights to music by The Beatles and numerous other artists, including Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. Split with Sony Music, the copyright catalog itself is estimated to be worth $2 billion.The new financial windfall comes even as circumstances around his death remain in legal limbo.
Dr. Conrad Murray faces an involuntary manslaughter charge for allegedly giving Jackson a lethal combination of sedatives. He is due back in a Los Angeles court April 5.
TUESDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2015 // THURSDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2015
Book review (SEPTEMBER 2015, OPTION A)
USATODAY- Sira Quiroga is a young Spanish dressmaker engaged to a solid suitor when a suave typewriter salesman upends her life.Spain is being upended by a civil war and the new regime's growing alliances with Nazi Germany. But The Time in Between will appeal more to fans of romance novels than the serious spy reader. Think John LeCarre-lite.
First-time novelist Maria Duenas has drawn a memorable character in Sira. Smart, gutsy and resourceful with a Scarlett O'Hara-like ability to whip up designer duds on a moment's notice, Sira
An international best-seller, The Time in Between — not the most memorable title — provides a lush travelogue of early-20th-century Madrid, Tetouan, Morocco and Lisbon. From a terrific opening line to the final page, chapters zip by at a pulsing pace. Time is aimed at female readers or the rare metrosexual who won't be put off by lines such as "my impeccable makeup didn't allow her to see the distress that her words were causing."
Looking for a breezy read about the Spanish Civil War and the early days of World War II? This could be your book. But after 600 pages, the reader is left with the feeling this novel is more girlish and glib than gripping.
has spunk. Over the 600 pages of her saga, Sira gains and loses a small fortune, is dumped by her cad of a lover in Morocco, runs guns to get the cash to start her life anew and becomes couturier to the Nazi wives stationed in Madrid. Urged on by her friend, the real-life British spy Rosalinda Fox, Sira, too, aids the British cause.
TUESDAY, 6 OCTOBER 2015 // THURSDAY, 8 OCTOBER 2015
Brain drain in Spain (JUNE 2014, OPTION B)
ONEEUROPE- Brain drain is a current issue within the European continent, and while its negative effects might not be very visible yet in those societies most likely to be affected, in a few decades (20 or 30 years) those countries will pay a heavy price if they fail to tackle this phenomenon.
The “brain drain” or “human capital flight” represents the migration of well-educated or talented people. The term "brain drain" was coined by the British Royal Society in the early '60s, in order to describe the migration of skilled workforce - more precisely the departure of British scientists and technicians to the U.S. and Canada. The phenomenon is most often associated with economic loss for those countries losing their highly skilled workforce. In Economics, this phenomenon is known as
[…]
The brain drain phenomenon has become more visible in Europe since 2007 / 2008, when the economic crisis hit hard Southern European countries such as Greece, Spain and Portugal. Furthermore, following the integration of Romania and Bulgaria into the EU, an important part of the highly educated population from these two countries has decided to move to other European countries.
[...]
In Spain, the progressive reduction of the budget for education and research determined the migration of a large number of professionals. To shoot a warning on the consequences caused by the brain exodus in the Spanish economy and society, in December 2012, 50 university rectors met in order to warn the political class that, if they continue with the budget cuts policy in Education “the damage in the public R&D will be irreversible (...) leaving thousands of young researchers without professional perspective and seriously weakening the future of the Spanish economy” (Morel, 2013).
TUESDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER 2015 // THURSDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER 2015
Words on trial (JUNE 2015. OPTION B)
NEWYORKER- In the early weeks of 2009, Chris Cole man began telling friends and associates in Columbia, Illinois, that he was worried about the safety of his family. He had been receiving death threats from an online stalker, and the e-mails had begun to mention his wife, Sheri, and his sons, Garret and Gavin, who were nine and eleven. Coleman asked his neighbor across the street, a police officer, to train a security camera on the front of his house.
Coleman understood surveillance better than most. He worked as the security chief for Joyce Meyer, whose cable television program, “Enjoying Everyday Life,” is at the center of an evangelical empire estimated to be worth more than a hundred million dollars a year; it includes a radio program, self-help and children’s books, CDs, podcasts, overseas missions, and motivational conventions. Initially, the threats focussed on Meyer, warning that if she didn’t quit preaching she’d pay the price, but the stalker soon turned his wrath on Coleman and his family. One note to Sheri read “Fuck you! Deny your God publicly or else!” Another read “Time is running out for you and your family.”
On May 5th, Coleman left his home early to work out at the gym. Afterward, when he called his wife and got no answer, he asked his neighbor the policeman to check on her. The officer found a horrifying scene. Red graffiti—“Fuck you” and “U have paid!”—was scrawled on the walls and on the sheets of the beds in which Sheri, Gavin, and Garret lay strangled to death. A back window was open, suggesting that someone had entered the house out of view of the camera.
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This video that's amazing and very interesting for me.
ReplyDeleteThis is a one example of others situations that happen in all world.
We can see a person who get to lie in a serious situation,absolutely. The reasons that he killed his family was stupid.Was not the right choice and that man doesn't know what he did.Because his family wasn't guilt.It's something unexplainable.