Bruce Springsteen has sold his music rights, in what could be the biggest deal ever for a single artist’s body of work, the New York Times is reporting.
Details are scant, but according to the NYT, the mega deal with Sony Music Entertainment may have exceeded $500 million.
Last month, Billboard pegged the value of Springsteen’s catalogue as between $330 and $415 million.
To put in perspective, $US500 million is equivalent to $AU698 million.
Reps for Sony and Springsteen declined to comment on Wednesday night.
The deal is speculated to include both Springsteen’s recorded music catalogue and his body of work as a songwriter, meaning Sony will own Springsteen’s complete collection of classics like “Born to Run,” “Born in the U.S.A.” and “Blinded by the Light.”
A string of legendary artists have cashed-in their equity on their music catalogue.
In the last 12 months, Neil Young, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Paul Simon, the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan and many others have made millions (hundreds of millions in Dylan’s case) by turning over their publishing.
Ageing artists look to sell their music rights as a means of retirement or estate planning, especially as competition among record companies and other music investment companies have sent catalogue prices skyrocketing.
While music catalogues are valuable assets, managing them is challenging, cumbersome and time-consuming. Rather than burden heirs with the responsibility of managing decades worth of music, many legacy artists are opting to take the cash now with the knowledge that their new partners will have the expertise and incentive to optimise the value of the music over time.
