Sales of music catalogues by artists is a recent trend, which is why all the most expensive ones have happened in the last few years. The most recent example is Katy Perry. The American singer-songwriter struck a USD 225 million deal in September 2023 that made her the female artist with the costliest catalogue ever sold. It is also noteworthy that at the age of 38, she is the second-youngest after Justin Bieber among the top 11 artists whose song catalogues have sold for astronomical prices.
A majority of the expensive music catalogue sales involve artists who have been in the business for decades. An example is 83-year-old Tina Turner. Hailed as the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” she became the oldest person to sell her back catalogue when she gave her music rights to BMG Rights Management (BMG). The deal, whose exact worth is unclear, included the artist’s share of recordings along with publishing rights, neighbouring rights and her name, image and likeness.
However, some younger artists have earned hundreds of millions of dollars from the sales of their musical creations. Among them are Stevie Nicks, who sold a part of her catalogue to Primary Wave in December 2020; rapper Lil Wayne, who sold his masters to Universal Music Group in December 2020; Jason Aldean, who sold 90 per cent of his catalogue to Spirit Music Group in February 2022; and Justin Timberlake, who sold his entire song catalogue to Hipgnosis in May 2022. This indicates the coveted nature of song rights. All four sold their rights for USD 100 million each.
What is a music catalogue and what are the ‘rights’?
A music catalogue is basically a collection of songs by a single artist whose rights are held by an individual (the artist) or entity (a group or record label). All such previously produced work is also called back catalogue.
The worth of a back catalogue can be in tens of millions of dollars depending on the artist’s popularity, the recordings and the sales of the songs and albums. When a catalogue is ‘bought,’ it implies that the rights of the songs exchange hands.
Although copyright laws differ by country, at least in the US, Europe and much of the Western world, all songs have two copyrights: recorded rights, which include rights to master recordings, and publishing rights, which comprise lyrics and the melody.
While recorded rights are connected to sales royalties and streaming, publishing rights are connected to the use of the music in films, television and performances. Though most of the sales of music catalogues involve publishing rights, the recorded rights are more coveted as they grant a steady flow of revenue to the holder with every streaming, download or sale of the songs or the albums.
Most artists sell one of their rights if they hold both in full or in part. In a few cases, both rights may be sold.
In most cases, however, the exact worth of the deal or its specifics might not be clear. For instance, Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham struck unspecified deals with BMG and Hipgnosis Songs Fund, respectively, in January 2021. Shakira, too, sold 145 of her songs to Hipgnosis in January 2021 in a deal whose details are not known, either.
However, some media outlets have specified the worth of deals in those that are upwards of USD 150 million, either citing inside sources or based on the estimation that artists can earn over a decade of royalties of their songs up front in such deals.
While the most expensive music catalogues are at least worth USD 150 million and touch USD 550 million, one deal might trump all of them if it goes through in the near future. That involves the music catalogue of Michael Jackson. Variety reported in February 2023 that the estate of the ‘King of Pop’ is in the “process of selling half of its interests” in a deal that could be between USD 800 million to USD 900 million.
Music catalogues that commanded the highest sales tag
Bruce Springsteen
Deal worth: USD 550 million
American rock legend Bruce Springsteen, nicknamed ‘The Boss,’ holds the record for the most expensive music catalogue ever sold.
In December 2021, Sony Sony Music Entertainment bought Springsteen’s music rights.
According to The New York Times (NYT), the deal was an estimated USD 550 million. The report said that the agreement includes two separate deals. One is for Springsteen’s recorded works and the other is for his songwriting rights.
The deal gave Sony the rights to all Springsteen’s songs, including classic hits such as “Born to Run,” “The Promised Land,” “Thunder Road,” and “The River.”
“I am one artist who can truly say that when I signed with Columbia Records in 1972, I came to the right place,” Springsteen said in a statement issued by Sony.
“During the last 50 years, the men and women of Sony Music have treated me with the greatest respect as an artist and as a person. I’m thrilled that my legacy will continue to be cared for by the company and people I know and trust,” added ‘The Boss.’
Springsteen has won 20 Grammy Awards in his illustrious six-decade-long career. He also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Streets of Philadelphia” from the movie Philadelphia (1993) and received another nod in the same category three years later for the title track for Dead Man Walking. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.
He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour of the US, in 2016, and the National Medal of Arts, the highest US government honour for artists and art patrons, in 2023.
Bob Dylan
Deals worth: USD 300 million + USD 200 million
Bob Dylan needs no introduction. But just for the sake of estimating his stature, Dylan is one of the two individuals — and the only living person — to have won both an Academy Award and a Nobel Prize.
In December 2020, Universal Music Publishing Group purchased the entirety of Dylan’s songwriting catalogue containing over 600 songs for an estimated USD 250-USD 300 million. Reports suggest that it could be the biggest-ever acquisition of a single act’s publishing rights. The sale included his iconic tracks, “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and “Like a Rolling Stone.”
Dylan struck a second multi-million-dollar deal in July 2021. He sold the recorded rights, or masters rights, to his music to Sony Music Entertainment, which allowed the company to acquire the entire catalogue of Dylan’s recorded music since 1962.
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These included 39 studio albums Blonde On Blonde and Rough And Rowdy Ways, songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a-Changin’” along with 16 “bootlegs.” Also included in the deal were the rights to future re-issues of his work.
Though the exact worth of the second deal was not revealed, Billboard estimated that it could be around USD 200 million based on the annual revenues of Dylan’s music at USD 16 million.
The combined worth of the two deals technically makes Dylan the artist with the second-most-expensive back catalogue sale.
Dylan has sold over 125 million records worldwide and is widely revered as one of the most influential personalities in music. A Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016 “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” The honour made him the first songwriter to be awarded the prestigious prize.
Phil Collins & Genesis
Deal worth: Over USD 300 million
In September 2022, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford of British band Genesis sold their publishing copyrights to Concord Music Group in a deal worth more than USD 300 million.
Collins’ multi-platinum solo albums, No Jacket Required (1985) and …But Seriously! (1989), as well as releases by Rutherford’s other band, Mike & the Mechanics, were included in the deal.
The worth of the deal took Genesis to the top spot of Forbes’ highest-paid entertainers’ list of 2022 at USD 230 million in pre-tax earnings, excluding fees for representation.
Genesis was formed in 1969 whose principal members included Banks, Rutherford, Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett. Collins joined in 1970 and, along with Banks and Rutherford, has remained a member to date while others kept dropping in and out. Catalogues of Gabriel and any other former member of the band were not part of the Concord deal.
Collins is also famous as a solo artist. He is an eight-time Grammy winner, all of which came for his works outside of the band. He is also an Academy Award winner in the Best Original Song category for “You’ll Be in My Heart” from Tarzan (1999). He was also inducted along with Banks, Rutherford, Gabriel and others into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010 as part of Genesis.
Sting
Deal worth: USD 300 million
The 17-time Grammy Award winner ended 2022 at the second spot in Forbes’ list of the highest-paid entertainers on the back of a USD 300 million deal for his entire songwriting catalogue to the Universal Music Group.
The deal, which was done in February 2022, included more than 600 songs spanning the English musician’s career as a solo artist as well as his time as the frontman of the new wave band The Police. Among them are the songs “Roxanne,” “Every Breath You Take,” “Shape Of My Heart,” “Fields Of Gold,” “Desert Rose,” “Englishman in New York” and “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.” Future royalties on the catalogue were also included in the deal.
Sting, whose real name is Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, performed as a member of the highly successful The Police from 1978 to 1983 before embarking on an even more illustrious solo career. Six of his Grammys came as a member of The Police.
As a performer, Sting has sold over 100 million albums to date. He has four Oscar nominations for Best Original Song and has won a Golden Globe as well as a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. In 2003, he was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to music.
Sting has also made appearances in films and theatre, performing in plays such as The Threepenny Opera on Broadway. His music concerts are also very successful.
According to Pollstar, he has earned over USD 368 million with 4.78 million tickets sold for his concerts since October 1999. He has been on his My Songs Tour since 2019 in support of his 13th studio album My Songs. The Las Vegas residency of the tour in 2022 earned him USD 2.28 million from just three shows.
David Bowie
Deal worth: USD 250 million
Warner Chappell Music acquired the publishing catalogue of David Bowie’s works from the late artist’s estate in December 2021.
The deal, reportedly worth USD 250 million, included Bowie’s hit songs such as “Changes,” “Space Oddity,” “Let’s Dance,” “Golden Years” and “Ziggy Stardust” as well as “Under Pressure”— his 1981 collaboration track with Queen — among hundreds of other songs that the late icon produced in his five-decade-long career from the 1960s till his death in 2016.
In all, Warner Chappell Music acquired the songs from all 26 studio albums released by the English singer-songwriter during his lifetime as well as his only posthumous album, Toy (2021). Besides his entire corpus as a songwriter, the deal also granted the publishing rights of Bowie’s two studio albums he released as a member of the British-American rock band Tin Machine and his soundtracks. In total, Warner Chappell Music has more than 400 songs.
“These are not only extraordinary songs, but milestones that have changed the course of modern music forever,” Guy Moot, the CEO of Warner Chappell, said in a statement at the time.
Bowie is the only posthumous artist in the top five on the list of most expensive music catalogues ever sold. He is a winner of five Grammy awards as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement honour.
He is one of the few music icons who also made a name in cinema, performing memorable roles in critically acclaimed movies such as Major Jack Celliers in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth (1986), FBI agent Phillip Jeffries in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) and Nikola Tesla in the Christopher Nolan film The Prestige (2006).
Katy Perry
Deal worth: USD 225 million
The overall net worth of Katy Perry increased from less than USD 200 million to USD 340 million, according to Forbes, in September 2023 with the sale of her music catalogue to Litmus Music.
According to Variety, Perry sold her stakes in master recordings and the publishing rights of all her five studio albums released between 2008 and 2020. Three of the albums — Teenage Dream, Prism and Witness — are Perry’s No.1 hits on the Billboard 200 chart.
The five albums feature all of Perry’s nine Billboard Hot 100 No.1 hits, including “Firework,” “Teenage Dream,” “California Gurls (feat. Snoop Dogg)”, “Part Of Me” and “I Kissed a Girl.”
“The deal covers all five of Perry’s studio albums released for Capitol Records between 2008 and 2020, which include 16 multi-platinum singles,” Carlyle Group, the private equity firm that owns Litmus Music, said in a statement.
The company didn’t reveal the worth of the deal, but multiple media reports pegged it at USD 225 million. Based on its estimate, Forbes reported that she is now one of the richest self-made women in America and would be officially part of the coveted list in 2024.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Perry is one of the few five artists to have sold 100 million digital records. Her success in music has made her one of the highest-earning musicians on the planet for a decade.
The celebrated American singer, songwriter and TV personality has been in the top 10 of Forbes’ rich list every year from 2011 to 2019, the year when she was named the ninth highest-earning musician of the decade with an estimated income of USD 530 million.
Justin Bieber
Deal worth: USD 200 million
Hipgnosis Song Capital, a company backed by private investment banking company Blackstone, announced in January 2023 that they acquired the entire music catalogue of Canadian pop star Justin Bieber.
The deal included all of Bieber’s shares in publishing rights, artist royalties of his songs from his master recordings and neighbouring rights for all his 290 tracks released before 31 December 2021.
Billboard valued the deal at USD 200 million and remarked at the time that it was “the largest rights sale for any artist of Bieber’s generation.” Months later, Perry broke this record.
Bieber is one of the most followed artists on Spotify with over 74 million monthly listeners. He released his debut album, My World, in 2009. Including his second album, My World 2.0 (2010), and his 2021 album, Justice, he scored eight No.1 albums on Billboard 200. He has the same number of songs at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 list.
Billboard noted that his songs collected primarily by him have generated 16.6 billion on-demand official streams in the US alone. His tremendous success in music at a young age was the reason the deal was of significant value despite it being considered “riskier investments since they don’t have as much history behind them to prove staying power.”
Merck Mercuriadis, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of the record label’s management, Hipgnosis Song Management, called Bieber a “culturally important artist.”
“At only 28 years of age, he is one of a handful of defining artists of the streaming era that has revitalized the entire music industry,” noted Mercuriadis.
Ryan Tedder
Deal worth: USD 200 million
In January 2021, American singer-songwriter Ryan Tedder, the lead vocalist of the pop-rock band OneRepublic, sold a majority stake of his recorded music and publishing rights to investment firm KKR.
Rolling Stone reported that the catalogue he sold comprised 500 songs. These included all OneRepublic songs, including hits such as “Counting Stars,” “Apologize” and “Secrets.” Among the records are also the songs Tedder co-wrote for other artists, such as Beyonce’s “Halo,” Adele’s “Rumour Has It,” Jonas Bros.“Sucker” and those of Lady Gaga, U2, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Ed Sheeran, Cardi B, Thomas Rhett, among others.
Citing a source, Reuters reported that the value of the deal was USD 200 million.
Tedder has been described by Variety as “one of the most business-savvy songwriters in the music industry.” He is a highly successful artist with over 420 million copies sold and three Grammy awards. He retains an interest in his music alongside KKR while Record label Interscope Records continues to own the master recordings of OneRepublic even after the deal.
Mötley Crüe
Deal worth: USD 150 million
Berlin-based music rights group BMG Rights Management announced in November 2021 that they bought the entire recorded music catalogue of hair metal legends Mötley Crüe. According to Variety, the deal was worth around USD 150 million.
In a career spanning four decades, Mötley Crüe produced nine studio albums from their debut Too Fast for Love (1981) to their last release Saints of Los Angeles (2008). The deal handed BMG the rights to all the studio albums besides several platinum-selling live albums and compilation sets.
Interestingly, Mötley Crüe acquired the rights to their recorded music from the label Elektra Records in the late 1990s for around USD 10 million, according to Rolling Stone.
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The hard rock band was originally co-founded by Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee in 1981. Mick Mars and Vince Neil joined later. It was after the arrival of Neil that the group took the name Mötley Crüe.
The band has sold over 100 million albums worldwide and scored major hits such as “Kickstart My Heart,” “Shout at the Devil,” “Girls, Girls, Girls” and “Home Sweet Home.”
Widely considered one of the most acclaimed hard rock acts of all time, the band secured a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, all albums in the top 10 across charts and seven platinum and multi-platinum albums over the course of their career. The band’s 2014-2015 musical concert, dubbed The Final Tour, grossed over USD 86 million.
In 2019, the band saw a resurgence in popularity, thanks to the Netflix biographical film The Dirt, which is based on the 2001 book The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band written by the band and Neil Strauss.
This led to another concert, and they co-headlined The Stadium Tour in 2022 with Def Leppard. Billboard’s Boxscore numbers reveal that the tour earned USD 173.5 million and sold 1.3 million tickets, making it the biggest ever for both bands.
At the end of it, Mars retired from touring due to his struggle with Ankylosing Spondylitis. He was replaced by former Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie guitarist John 5. The band is currently co-headlining The World Tour with Def Leppard.
Neil Young
Deal worth: USD 150 million
The folk-rock legend sold 50 per cent of his music catalogue, with worldwide copyright and income interests, to Hipgnosis reportedly for USD 150 million in January 2021. The catalogue contains 1,180 songs, none of which were ever licensed for commercial use.
Hipgnosis’ Mercuriadis noted in a statement that the acquisition of the catalogue won’t change the usage of Young’s songs.
“I built Hipgnosis to be a company Neil would want to be a part of. We have a common integrity, ethos and passion born out of a belief in music and these important songs,” he said, adding, “There will never be a ‘Burger Of Gold’ but we will work together to make sure everyone gets to hear them on Neil’s terms.”
Young, a Canadian-American, is regarded as one of the greatest artists in the history of music. He has produced over 40 studio albums, both solo and with the American rock band Crazy Horse, and remains active.
He gained early fame with his 1966 anti-war song “For What It’s Worth” as a member of Buffalo Springfield. His most acclaimed hits include the songs “After the Gold Rush,” “Tonight’s the Night,” “Heart of Gold,” “Ambulance Blues” and “Powderfinger,” the last of which was counted as his greatest hit by Rolling Stone.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Deal worth: USD 140 to USD 150 million
Billboard reported in May 2021 that American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers were selling the publishing rights to their songs to Hipgnosis for around USD 140 million to USD 150 million. At the time, the publication said that there was no confirmation if the deal was closed.
However, the song catalogue of the band is available on the official website of Hipgnosis as of October 2023, indicating that the deal may have succeeded.
Formed in 1982, the band delivered iconic hits such as “Under the Bridge,” “Give It Away,” “Dani California” and “Knock Me Down.”
The primary and most famous line-up group comprises co-founders Anthony Kiedis and Flea with Chad Smith and John Frusciante. Variety reported the catalogue that was part of the deal was largely written by the four members since 1989.
Red Hot Chili Peppers released their eponymous debut album in 1984 and have since released 12 more studio albums, including two in 2022: Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen.
The three-time Grammy Award winners are among the most successful bands in the world and all of their albums since 1991 have been in the top 10 of music charts in the US. They set a rare record on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart with both Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen reaching No.1 the same year. The band, thus, scored four No.1s on the chart, including their previous albums Stadium Arcadium (2006) and The Getaway (2016).
(Hero image: Rob DeMartin via Bruce Springsteen/@springsteen/Twitter; Featured image: KATY PERRY/@katyperry/Twitter)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– Who owns the most music catalogues?
Most music catalogues, based on recent deals, are probably owned by Hipgnosis, which has been on a record-buying spree over the last few years.
– Which singers have sold their catalogues?
Several prominent singers have sold their music catalogues. Among them are Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Tina Turner and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
– How much did Bob Dylan sell his music catalogue for?
Bob Dylan sold his music catalogue in two separate deals worth USD 300 million and USD 200 million.
– Which rappers have sold their catalogues?
Rappers Lil Wayne, Future and Metro Boomin are among those who have sold their catalogues. It was reported in January 2023 that Dr. Dre was also selling his catalogue to Universal Music and Shamrock Holdings in a deal worth around USD 200 million.
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Manas Sen Gupta writes at the intersection of tech, entertainment and history. His works have appeared in publications such as The Statesman, Myanmar Matters, Hindustan Times and News18/ETV. In his spare time, Manas loves studying interactive charts and topographic maps. When not doing either, he prefers reading detective fiction. Spring is his favourite season and he can happily eat a bowl of noodles any time of the day.
