Selling his song catalog at a reported $500 million, Bruce Springsteen's deal is even higher than Bob Dylan's. But why are music superstars selling their publishing rights?
Cashing in while the going is good: The Boss has joined a long list of renowned artists seeking to secure their financial futureImage: John Angelillo/UPI Photo/imago images
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Publishing rights are a lucrative business, as Michael Jackson found out after he acquired 251 Beatles songs for more than $47 million in 1985 ($116 million at today's rate; €100 million) and doubled his money 10 years later.
But that catalog was cheap by today's standards.
Bob Dylan sold all his song rights to Universal Music for what Rolling Stone magazine estimates to be between $300 million-$400 million in late 2020. Dylan had been one of the few artists who had retained the rights to their own catalog. But the balladeer has joined a slew of top-selling music artists who have recently made their publishing rights prized currency in a song acquisition boom.
The rock legend reportedly sold his entire catalog to Sony Music Entertainment, for an estimated $500 million or more, as first reported by music industry magazine Billboard on December 16, citing undisclosed sources.
It is believed to be the most important deal ever signed for a single artist's body of work.
The transaction gives Sony ownership of Springsteen's complete collection of classic songs, which includes classics like "Born to Run," "Dancing in the Dark," and "Born in the U.S.A."
A trend among music legends
Earlier this year, Tina Turner sold the rights to her music catalog to BMG, while Red Hot Chili struck a similar deal, selling their publishing rights to Hipgnosis Songs Fund for $140 million.
Neil Young also sold the rights to 50% of his songs in 2021, including such classics as "Heart of Gold," to the same investment fund for a reported $150 million.
Selling song rights: Blockbuster deals
Bob Dylan has hit the headlines again after deciding to sell recording rights to Sony after an earlier deal with Universal. Here's a look at other big music publishing deals.
Image: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
Justin Bieber joins the trend
Justin Bieber has sold his music publishing rights to Hipgnosis for a reported $200 million (€184 million), according to AFP. While music legends including Bob Dylan and Tina Turner have also cashed out on their catalogs, such deals are not as common with younger artists. But the 28-year-old Canadian pop star is among the best-selling artists ever, with hits including "Baby" and "Sorry."
Image: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
Bob Dylan's blockbuster deal
Bob Dylan created waves when he sold his publishing rights to Universal Music in 2020 for a reported $400 million. In January 2022, he then went on to sell his entire master recordings to Sony Music for an undisclosed amount. Billboard said the recordings are worth over $200 million and yield $16 million in annual revenues.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Castello
Neil Young also sells out
Rock star Neil Young soon followed in Dylan's footsteps, selling the publishing rights to 50% of his catalog to investment fund Hipgnosis. Young's move stunned the music world. The Canadian-American musician had always vehemently opposed the use of his songs in advertising, for example, and wanted to keep his rights to avoid such exploitation. Will Hipgnosis be a trustworthy partner?
Image: Amy Harris/AP Photo/picture-alliance
Shakira gets in on the act
Since the Hipgnosis publishing company was founded in 2018, it has snapped up song rights across the musical spectrum. In addition to Neil Young, Blondie's Debbie Harry and Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks, Colombian pop singer Shakira has also sold 100% of her rights to Hipgnosis. The London-based company is already giving industry giants Universal and Co. a run for their money.
Image: Reuters/S. Mitchell
Red Hot Chili Peppers also sell entire catalog
The Red Hot Chili Peppers also sold their publishing rights to Hipgnosis, signing a deal for around $140 million in May 2021. This includes hits such as "Under The Bridge," "Californication" and "Snow (Hey Oh)." With the coronavirus pandemic restricting musicians' income from performances, rights sales seem to be a growing trend.
Image: Getty Images/G. Caballero
Michael Jackson cashed in ...
Michael Jackson famously brought the song rights business to the fore in 1985 when he purchased the rights to 251 Beatles songs for $47.5 million (€40 million) — to the chagrin of Paul McCartney. Ironically, McCartney first gave Jackson the idea. The ex-Beatle had already lost the rights to his music in 1968 and has not been able to buy them back to this day.
Image: imago/B. Mueller
... but lost a friend
McCartney met Michael Jackson in the 1970s and they became friends. The two also talked about music rights, which awakened Jackson's business acumen. He started buying up catalogs — including those of the Beatles. The friendship with McCartney disintegrated but Jackson's fortune multiplied: 10 years later, he sold the Beatles' rights for $95 million.
Image: AFP/Getty Images
Taylor Swift's re-recorded albums
Taylor Swift was only 15 years old when she signed her first recording contract. She also signed away her publishing rights, with her Big Machine label holding the rights to her first six albums in their entirety. A contract clause stipulated that the singer may re-record the first five albums after November 2020, which Swift did to regain her publishing rights.
Pink Floyd emerged victorious in a dispute over their rights in 2010. They sued their record company EMI after it wanted to sell individual Pink Floyd songs on the internet. When the band signed their contract in 1999, online song sales did not exist. Digital rights could not yet have been the subject of the contract, they argued. The court agreed with them.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Boesl
Tina Turner secures her life's work
Selling catalogs of rights is a way for ageing stars to secure their estate. Tina Turner, who has received 12 Grammy Awards and has been inducted twice into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame, has sold to BMG her share of her recordings' and writer's rights, as well as the rights related to her name, image and likeness. It's the music publishing company's "single largest artist acquisition ever."
Image: Aurore Marechal/abaca/picture alliance
The Boss makes a top record deal
Five decades of hits: Bruce Springsteen sold his entire catalog and music publishing rights to Sony Music in December 2021, in a deal estimated to be worth $500 million. But even after selling his rights, the Boss can further profit from his enduring popularity, as he remains one of the highest-earning musicians on tour.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/T. Maury
David Bowie's estate also sells publishing rights
Six years after David Bowie's death, his estate is also following the trend and has sold the publishing rights to the late musician's entire body of work. Warner Music is now the caretaker of the influential glam rock pioneer's hundreds of songs. His catalog includes hits such as "Space Oddity," "Changes," "Life on Mars?" and "Heroes." The deal is estimated to be upwards of $250 million.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gambarini
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Similar megadeals were also recently struck between Hipgnosis, a UK music investment and song management company founded in 2018, and Shakira, as well as with former Fleetwood Mac member Lindsey Buckingham, pop icons Blondie and disco legends Chic.
Indeed, Rolling Stonereports that Hipgnosis had made a rival $400 million bid for Bob Dylan's catalog before he signed with Universal Music for a similar sum.
What is driving the song selloff?
The music economist Peter Tschmuck, of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, said the motivations for these rights sales varied. "It could be an additional source of income, since, after all, many performance opportunities have been eliminated," he said of younger artists selling publishing rights in the midst of a pandemic.
Meanwhile, older artists like Dylan might be wanting to ensure that their music legacy is properly managed for future generations, Tschmuck believes.
Selling rights has also become necessary in the brave new world of online music streaming, where revenues are much lower than traditional hard copy record sales.
Red Hot Chilli Peppers are among the megastars who have sold off their music catalogImage: Getty Images/G. Caballero
"There are still a lot of legacy contracts where artists are treated more or less the same way when they stream music as when they sell records," Tschmuck said. He added that what was a good deal for record sales is unsustainable for artists relying on low-subscription-price streaming services.
Diversifying music income streams
Song rights acquisitions can be highly lucrative in the long term as they can be exploited for up to 70 years after a musician's death.
The holder of music rights can also sell songs across diverse media such as films and streaming portals, as well as for advertising and cover versions. This expands the base for royalties way beyond record or streaming sales and radio airplay.
Hipgnosis, for example, holds the rights to four songs alone that can be heard in the fourth season of the hit streaming series The Crown. It's a glimpse into the way global content platforms like Netflix have also become a cash cow for music publishers, and partly explains the unprecedented money being paid for legacy artist publishing rights.
Mercuriadis (left) and Rodgers launched Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited at the London Stock Exchange in 2018 Image: Photoshot/picture alliance
Hipgnosis has led the way into this diversified music rights space and, in three short years, the company has given the industry giants Universal Music, Warner and Sony Music a run for their money. The founders, Nile Rodgers and Merck Mercuriadis, are no strangers to the industry. Mercuriadis managed Elton John, Iron Maiden, Guns N' Roses and Beyoncé, while partner Rodgers was a member of the band Chic and producer for David Bowie and Madonna, among others.
According to the Hipgnosis website, the pair not only want to make a profit for their shareholders, but also offer artists fair sums for song rights: The-Dream, songwriter, producer and one of the first to strike deals with at Hipgnosis, received over £18 million (€21 million, $25 million) for his rights to songs such as Beyoncé's "Single Ladies."
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Fear of exploitation
There has been a fear that selling off rights will lead to the commercial exploitation of classic songs. Hipgnosis founder Mercuriadis promised that music created by politically outspoken Neil Young would not be exploited to sell hamburgers and the like — in his 1988 song "This Note's For You," Young sang that he "Ain't singing for Pepsi, ain't singing for Coke."
"I built Hipgnosis to be a company Neil would want to be a part of," Mercuriadis said.
"We have a common integrity, ethos and passion born out of a belief in music and these important songs," he added. "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."
Fear that their music will be misappropriated has kept many artists from selling their rights in the past. "In the US, it's mostly been the fear that Trump will use the rights," said Peter Tschmuck, referring to backlash by artists such as Neil Young when the former US president played their music at rallies without explicit permission.
But following Trump's presidential loss, multi-million-dollar deals such as the one signed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers with Hipgnosis for their entire catalog in May 2021 provided a signal that such fears might have passed.
Bob Dylan: Stations of a legendary career
Over six decades of iconic songs: Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan also left his mark as an activist, an actor and a Nobel Prize winner.
Image: Istvan Bajzat/dpa/picture alliance
The protest singer
Joan Baez and Bob Dylan are connected by more than protest against the establishment. The two were once a couple. In 1963 they made a joint appearance at the civil rights march in Washington.
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The actor
Calling Bob Dylan a folk or rock singer would be describing only part of his personality. Dylan is more like a total work of art, a cultural treasure of American society, who is an iconic protest figure and actor, as well. In 1973 he appeared in the movie "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/UPI
The activist
When his live touring schedule allows, Dylan has always turned towards benefit performances. In this photo from 1971, he appears with ex-Beatles Ringo Starr and George Harrison, performing in Madison Square Garden for 40,000 people. The concert proceeds of $250,000 went directly to the young country of Bangladesh, torn by civil war.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
The 'never-ending' performer
Bob Dylan remains active on stage. Although his "Never Ending Tour" was interrupted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been in progress since 1988. The 79-year-old also released his 39th studio album in June 2020, the critically-acclaimed "Rough and Rowdy Ways," which came 58 years after the release of his debut album, "Bob Dylan."
Image: picture alliance/KEYSTONE/STR
The prize winner
Bob Dylan has two honorary doctorates and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2008 in recognition of his enormous influence on pop culture. In 2012, US President Barack Obama awarded him the country's highest civil distinction: the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He also became a Nobel Prize laureate in 2016.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/EPA/J. Lo Scalzo
The dealmaker
In December 2020, Universal Music bought the entire back catalog of Bob Dylan's songs, a deal covering more than 600 song copyrights and spanning the singer-songwriter's 60-year career. The music company did not reveal the financial details of what it described as "one of the most important" music publishing agreements of all time, but reports estimate it was a "nine-figure deal."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Castello
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This is an update of a previously published article in German, adding on December 16, 2021, the news that Bruce Springsteen has sold his catalog of rights.
