Music publishers are splurging hundreds of millions buying up back catalogues, but it’s a shortsighted strategy

Maybe half of a Neil Young is worth $150m. For fans for whom his songs have soundtracked their weddings or holidays, their heartbreaks and joys, I am sure that he is priceless. But $150m (£112m) is what investment firm Hipgnosis Songs Fund is estimated to have paid for 50% of the rights to his songs.

Many of us have used the last few months to have a clearout and music legends appear to be having a lucrative car boot sale of their own. Last month, Stevie Nicks sold 80% of her songwriting catalogue to Primary Wave, a deal valued at $100m, according to the Wall Street Journal. Bob Dylan, too, sold the rights to his entire back catalogue to Universal Music, for an undisclosed sum, rumoured to be in excess of $300m. It’s enough to make the art world look frugal.

Continue reading…

You May Also Like

‘Oil is dead, renewables are the future’: why I’m training to became a wind turbine technician

Braidon Nurse, wind turbine technician apprentice with SSE Renewables, explains how he…

Covid-19 has changed working patterns for good, UK survey finds

Directors caution of downsides as well as upsides as few staff say…

Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskiy accuses Kremlin of ‘terrorist’ attacks on Kharkiv power supply – live updates

Two cruise missiles hit infrastructure in second city after Ukrainian forces reclaimed…

Music publishers are splurging hundreds of millions buying up back catalogues, but it’s a shortsighted strategy

Maybe half of a Neil Young is worth $150m. For fans for whom his songs have soundtracked their weddings or holidays, their heartbreaks and joys, I am sure that he is priceless. But $150m (£112m) is what investment firm Hipgnosis Songs Fund is estimated to have paid for 50% of the rights to his songs.

Many of us have used the last few months to have a clearout and music legends appear to be having a lucrative car boot sale of their own. Last month, Stevie Nicks sold 80% of her songwriting catalogue to Primary Wave, a deal valued at $100m, according to the Wall Street Journal. Bob Dylan, too, sold the rights to his entire back catalogue to Universal Music, for an undisclosed sum, rumoured to be in excess of $300m. It’s enough to make the art world look frugal.

Continue reading…

You May Also Like

USA swimmer Ryan Murphy sparks war of words over doping after Olympic final

Murphy says 200m backstroke final ‘probably not clean’ Russian winner Rylov says:…

Tornade montreal

meteo montreal, Alerte Tornade, tornade quebec, alerte tornade québec, tornade ottawa, alerte…

Paul Casey targets Masters following triumph at Dubai Desert Classic

Englishman eases to four-stroke victory in the UAE ‘I’ve got a good…