From: "Book On The Dance Floor - Let's Make HIStory In The Mix" by Brice Najar.

Brice interviewing Laurent Hopman (Chief Editor of Black Or White Magazine)

How did you hear about the Blood On The Dance Floor project, and what was your reaction?

We learned that a new MJ album was in preparation in November 1996. One of our contacts at Sony Music Europe told us the news. It was a big revelation... We were kept in confidence because we had a very good relationship with Sony. But the information had to remain absolutely confidential. The album wasn't finished, they didn't want any leak.

Our first reaction was to be surprised, of course. HIStory had been released a year-and a-half earlier and the promotion of the album was in full swing. There was no reason a new Michael record would be ready before years. Then surprise gave way to excitement. The prospect of having a new batch of unreleased tracks was great!

Although we had to respect the blackout requested by Sony, we still wanted to share our excitement with the fans by publishing some cryptic news item in the 20th issue of Black & White (released in December 1996) which announced that something incredible was going to happen in 1997 and that the initials of this event would be B.O.T.D.F. It was a way to create excitement and suspense without saying anything...

We were used to the 4-year cycle of waiting for a new album. What do you think caused this change in the calendar?

The Blood On The Dance Floor project was Sony Music's idea. Michael Jackson was going to launch the second part of his world tour in the summer of 1997. He was going to tour the stadiums of Western Europe - a huge market for the record, that had already been exposed to the huge HIStory album launch campaign.

By the time the European tour would start, the HIStory album would already be two years old. The biggest tracks of the record would already have been released as singles. Therefore, from a marketing point of view, it would have been a shame not to have anything new to sell to one of the world's most demanding audiences. Hence the idea of releasing a new record in conjunction with the second half of the world tour.

Knowing that it would not be possible for him to come up with a new album of at least ten songs in the time allotted, Michael first suggested to Sony that they'd release an EP, a sort of mini album, with five or six songs. Sony Music didn't like that idea. An EP could not be branded as Michael Jackson's "new album, nor could it be sold at the same price as an album. The record company then pushed to add remixes to the few unreleased tracks that Michael said he was willing to provide, in order to have a product that could be sold as an album.

If you're interested in the background of the Blood On The Dance Floor: HIStory In The Mix album, specifically, there's loads more insights available in the book.

Get it here (official site) (Amazon.co.uk) or (Amazon.com)

Edit: Also see: Hennigan, Kerry. “MJ Studies Today LXII: Behind the scenes on Michael Jackson’s “Blood on the Dance Floor” album as documented by Brice Najar in “Book on the Dance Floor: Let’s Make HIStory in the Mix.” Part 1. (14-02-2021).” The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies 7, No. 3 (2021). https://michaeljacksonstudies.org/mj-studies-today-lxii/