The release of "Much Too Soon" follows close on the heels of previous singles, "Hold My Hand," which debuted on November 23 on Jackson's official website, and "Breaking News," which hit the web on November 8. Michael will be released December 14.
"Breaking News" prompted a boatload of speculation among fans and family members that the song was not, in fact, sung by Jackson, impelling Epic Records to release a statement confirming the song's authenticity.
"Much Too Soon" has not been met with such derision; comments on Ping are largely positive, as are comments under the announcement on Jackson's website.
The song will be available in full on Ping for the entire week, yet is not currently up on Jackson's own site. It's an interesting move, considering Apple's social network really has yet to fully take off among musicians and fans.
For example, Jackson has 56,981 followers on Ping, while 24,786,370 people Like the musician on Facebook and 259,746 follow him on Twitter. Naturally, both of these networks include plugs for the Ping placement, but it's still an intriguing choice for such a high-profile release -- although iTunes does offer a platform for purchase, the fans don't seem to be flocking to the social network in droves.