Thriller (Michael Jackson album) people on the cover of magazines doesn't sell copies ... Just wait. Someday those magazines are going to be "begging" me for an interview. Maybe I'll give them one, and maybe I won't." Jackson reunited with "Off the Wall" producer Quincy Jones to record his sixth studio album, his second under the Epic label. The pair worked together on 30 songs, nine of which were included on the album. "Thriller" was recorded at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, with a production budget of $750,000 (US$1,926,319.15 in 2017 dollars). The recording commenced on April 14, 1982 at noon with
Thriller (Michael Jackson album) the opinion that he was a "musical phenomenon" and that "in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is everybody else". Jackson changed the way the industry functioned: both as an artistic persona and as a financial, profitable entity. His attorney John Branca observed that Jackson achieved the highest royalty rate in the music industry to that point: approximately $2 (US$ in dollars) for each album sold. As a result, Jackson earned record-breaking profits from compact disc sales and from the sale of copies of the documentary, "The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller", produced by Jackson