New music recorded by Michael Jackson before his death is likely to be released - but not yet, the president of his record label Epic¹ has said.

Michael Jackson的唱片公司总裁Epic称，Michael Jackson生前的新专辑将要发售。

Jackson was said to be working on instrumental music and a pop album

"We just want to pay our respects to Michael," Amanda Ghost said: "We don't want to be seen to be jumping on any bandwagon（引人注目，流行） associated with his death."

Jackson had been working on new music for several years with hip-hop and R&B stars like Will.i.am, Ne-Yo and Akon.

"The appetite is definitely there" for new material, Ghost told BBC 6 Music.

"If we do release anything of unreleased material, it has to be fantastic and it can't damage in any way his legacy² or his legend and I won't let that happen at Epic.

"I have no idea when it's coming out, but it will come out on Sony/Epic. We haven't made any decisions because we just want to be respectful for his memory and not be seen in any way as trying to cash in."

The release of new music is also likely to be delayed as legal negotiations³ over his estate.

Earlier this week, a Los Angeles judge gave control to his lawyer John Branca and music executive John McClain, rejecting a claim by Jackson's mother Katherine.

Instrumental album

Bruce Swedien, a producer and engineer who worked on Off The Wall and Thriller⁴, has said he believed Jackson was working on instrumental music as well as a pop album.

Ghost, best known for her work as a producer and writer with the likes of Beyonce, Shakira and James Blunt, is the first recording⁵ artist to be appointed head of a major label.

She first met Jackson in February this year when presenting him with an award for being the label's biggest selling artist.

"I walked up to him and said 'Hi, I'm the president of Epic,' and he said 'Wow, things have changed since I was there,'" Ghost said.

"He knew my work and he thought it was fantastic that a creative had been put in charge."

US music sales tracker Nielsen SoundScan has revealed that 800,000 copies of Jackson's albums were bought last week - almost double sales for the previous week.