If ever there had been any doubt about the economic value of popular music, just consider some of the blockbuster music rights deals made in recent years by the likes of Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Paul Simon, Sting and Bruce Springsteen. These rock stars, and dozens of others, some in the later years of their careers, have made mega-million dollar deals with music, entertainment and investment companies that believe there is still a lot more gold in the songs of these artists – and in some cases, big bucks for many years to come.
December 8, 2020. Bob Dylan’s music deal to sell his song catalog to Sony/ Universal, received front-page treatment at “The Wall Street Journal” with photos & headline, “Dylan Sells a Lifetime’s Worth of Songs for a Fortune.” Details weren’t disclosed at the time, but some later estimates placed the deal’s value in the $300-$400 million range.
December 2020
Bob Dylan
In early December 2020, it was announced that folk-rock giant, Bob Dylan, then 79, with nearly seven decades of music to his credit, agreed to make a deal with the Universal Music Group – a division of the French media conglomerate Vivendi – for 100 per cent control of his catalog of 600-plus songs. With Dylan’s catalog, Universal became the owner the publishing rights, each song’s copyright, and the income each song generates. The deal was estimated to have a value in the $300-to-$400 million range, making it one of the biggest and most valuable deals in music history.
Dylan's 6th studio album, “Highway 61 Revisited,” (August 1965), included “Like a Rolling Stone..” Click for copy.
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“Like A Rolling Stone” – 1965
“Like a Rolling Stone,” for example, was a No. 1 hit in the UK and No 2 in the U.S., and is considered one of most influential compositions in post-WWII popular music. Rolling Stone listed it at No. 1 on their 2004 and 2010 listings of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” The song was first released in July 1965 and also appeared on Dylan’s 6th studio album, Highway 61 Revisited (August 1965). The song has also been covered by many artists. At one auction in 2014, Dylan’s handwritten lyrics to the song brought $2 million, a world record at that time for a popular music manuscript.
Dylan’s December 2020 deal with Universal includes songs dating from his earliest hits to his latest album, Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020). The deal also includes shares of songs co-written by Dylan, or songs for which Dylan had publishing rights, like the Band’s 1968 classic “The Weight,” However, any music Dylan writes in the future is not part of the deal, and would remain his.
Bob Dylan is unique among modern singer-songwriters for his Nobel Prize, awarded the honor for literature in October 2016 – “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” Dylan also won a special Pulitzer Prize in 2008 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. Other honors include Grammy, Academy, and Golden Globe awards. He has also been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Songwriters Hall of Fame. By some counts he has sold more than 145 million recordings worldwide, with an impressive output of 40 studio albums, 96 singles, and a host other albums, EPs, videos, soundtracks, and bootleg material.
Philippe Margotin & Jean-Michel Guesdon's 2022 book, "Bob Dylan All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Track" (expanded edition), 736 pp. Click for copy.
But at the time of his December 2020 deal with Universal, Dylan still held another part of his musical legacy – his master recordings – which he later sold in a January 2022 deal with Sony, which reportedly paid $200 million – coupled with the earlier deal, possibly put Dylan in the $600 million neighborhood for the legacy rights to his music.
Dylan, however, isn’t the only popular musician who has sold his music rights in recent years. There have been dozens of others, in fact, if not hundreds, doing so by now. What follows below are some short profiles, with song samples, of some popular artists who have sold all or parts of their music catalogs and/or related rights for hefty sums in the 2020s.
November-December 2020
Cover of Stephen Davis's 2018 book, "Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks," St. Martin's Press, 352 pp. Click for copy.
In early December 2020 it was reported that Stevie Nicks, known for her songs with Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist, made a $100 million deal to sell 80 percent of her catalog to Primary Wave, according to the Wall Street Journal. The deal, negotiated in November 2020, includes several of Nicks’s biggest hits as a solo artist and member of Fleetwood Mac, among them: “Landslide,” “Rhi-annon,” “Dreams,” and “Edge of Seventeen.” Nicks was 73 at the time of the deal.
Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975, helping the band to become one of the best-selling music acts of all time with over 120 million records sold worldwide.
Rumours (1977), the band’s second album with Nicks, became a top-selling album worldwide, certified at 20× platinum in the U.S.
In 1981, while remaining a member of Fleetwood Mac, Nicks began her solo career, releasing the studio album Bella Donna, which topped the Billboard 200 with sales that reached multi-platinum status. She released eight solo studio albums and seven studio albums with Fleetwood Mac, selling a total of 65 million copies in the U.S. alone.
“Edge of Seventeen,” from her debut solo studio album, Bella Donna (1981), was released as the third single from the album on February 4, 1982. On the Billboard Hot 100, the song peaked at No. 11, and would later be listed at No. 217 on Rolling Stone‘s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” in 2021. It would become one of Nicks’ most enduring and recognizable songs. In fact, one report on the song’s streaming prowess noted that as of mid-July 2023, the song had nearly 370 million streams, accumulating at a clip of about 200,000 a day.
Nicks & Mick Fleetwood on the cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” album of 1977. Nicks sang on, and helped write, several of the album’s hit songs, including, “Dreams.” Click for copy.
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“Edge of Seventeen” – 1981
She is the first woman to have been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: first as a member of Fleetwood Mac in 1998 and then as a solo artist in 2019.
Nick’s music rights deal came shortly after her 1977 song “Dreams” from Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album, began charting on Billboard in October 2020 for the first time in 40 years. That occurred when a viral Tik Tok video began boosting the song. It featured a man skateboarding and chugging a bottle of Ocean Spray cranberry juice while listening to the tune. That October the song posted a stellar week of streams and digital sales in the U.S., bringing it to more than a half-billion plays on Spotify alone. Rumours also rose in popularity and hit the top 10 chart for 2020, 43 years after its release – all testament to the lasting power and financial potential of classic rock music.
Her Fleetwood Mac songs “Landslide,” “Rhiannon” and “Dreams,” the last of which was the band’s only No. 1 U.S. hit, together with her solo hit, “Edge of Seventeen,” have all been included in Rolling Stone‘s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
January 2021
Neil Young
Album cover for “Neil Young Greatest Hits..” Includes 16 songs spanning his career since 1969. Click for Amazon,
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“Old Man” – Neil Young
Harvest album (1972)
Among some of Neil Young’s more notable songs for example, are: “Sugar Mountain” (1969), “Cowgirl in the Sand” (1969),. “Down By the River” (1969), “After The Gold Rush” (1970), “Cinnamon Girl” (1970), “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” (1970), “Southern Man”(1970), “Heart of Gold” (1971), “Old Man” (1972), “Rockin’ in the Free World” (1989), and others. Two of his 40+ studio albums – After The Gold Rush and Harvest – were particularly popular in the early 1970s, and he would have other Top Ten performers through the 1990s and beyond.
Jimmy McDonough’s 2002 book, “Shakey: Neil Young's Biography,” Random House, 800pp. Click for copy.
In addition to his many studio albums, Young has also issued a dozen live and compilation albums as a solo artist, as well as with Crazy Horse and other band configurations.
After the Gold Rush, Harvest, Déjà Vu, and “Ohio” have all been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. And Young himself has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, both as a solo artist and a member of Buffalo Springfield.
See also at this website, “Four Dead in O-hi-o: Kent State, 1970”, featuring the story of the campus shootings at Kent State during student protests there (with 2 songs), and a second story, “Crosby, Stills & Nash: 1960s & Beyond,” covering that group’s history with Young, plus selected songs and books. Neil Young’s “Philadelphia” is included in the “Streets of Philadelphia” story.
February 2021
The Beach Boys
Steven Gaines 1995 book, “Heroes And Villains: The True Story of the Beach Boys,” Da Capo Press, 416 pp. Click for copy.
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“Don’t Worry Baby”-1964
The Beach Boys came on the music scene in 1961, and became one of America’s most famous groups through the 1960s and beyond, noted for their gorgeous harmonies and notable arrangements, as in the song sample above.
In the early 1960s, the Beach Boys made good use of a popular, teen-appealing formula of songs featuring either surfing, cars, and/or girls – all framed against a California backdrop. Their first big Top Ten hit was 1963’s “Surfin USA,” followed by others, such as: “Surfer Girl” (1963), “I Get Around” (1964), “Help Me Rhonda” (1964), and “California Girls” (1965).
They became the quintessential American rock band, and for a time, their music became a familiar part of U.S. 4th-of-July Independence Day concert celebrations. But as the group matured in musical style, their initial surf-rock focus was broadened to include other themes and often new and compelling arrangements, produced by Brian Wilson.
“The Beach Boys…are not just a band. They’re a lifestyle. They’re a consumer brand. And they’ve never really exploited that.”The Beach Boys would become one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful bands of all time, selling over 100 million records worldwide. Between the 1960s and 2020s, they had 37 songs reach the U,S. Top 40 music chart – the most by an American band – with four topping the Billboard Hot 100. Overall, the group has released 29 studio albums, 11 live albums, 56 compilation albums, 1 remix album, and 75 singles.
In the mid-1960s, they became the American answer to the Beatles, as the two groups sparred with rival hit albums, pushing the bounds of musical innovation. Among these was their 1966 album, Pet Sounds (1966) with its “God Only Knows” single — plus a later single, “Good Vibrations” — all of which helped raise Brian’s and the group’s prestige as rock innovators.
The Beach Boys: The Platinum Collection, Sounds of Summer Edition. Click for Amazon.
Chastan also explained that Iconic Artists was keen to explore new technological avenues with the Beach Boys material, and that fans might expect to see new applications. “That includes VR, AR, 3D, CGI, natural language processing, et cetera,” he said. “That, to me, is probably the most interesting aspect of what’s going to transform our business. In five years, I could send you a text and say, ‘At 2 p.m., let’s put our Oculus Rift glasses on, and let’s go see the Beach Boys record ‘Good Vibrations’ at Western Recorders.’”
Old timers, however, will likely remain content just listening to the boys’ ageless 1960s harmonies, via vinyl, CD, or streaming.
See also at this website, three more detailed stories on Beach Boys history, which are as follows: “Early Beach Boys, 1962-1966,” recounting their early rise, recording and touring history, list of Top 40 hits, selected albums, TV appearances and more; “Early Beach Boys, Pt.2,” incorporating six full songs from 1963-1966 with historical narrative for each; and, “Love & Mercy,” a story on the 2015 Hollywood film of that name about Brian Wilson, his musical genius, troubled soul, and love story with his second wife.
“Just One Look: The Very Best of Linda Ronstadt”(2015), is a two-disc set with 30 of her songs. Click for Amazon.
March 2021
Linda Ronstadt
In March 2021, Linda Ronstadt made a music rights and promotion deal with Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists valued at a minimum of $50 million.
Ronstadt, one of the best-selling artists of all time, is not a songwriter, so her deal is somewhat different from others involving intellectual property and/or publishing rights.
The arrangement with Iconic is one that includes name and likeness to promote her masters. It’s more a partnership with Ronstadt with the goal of preserving her legacy in the digital era — including working with streaming services and social media, rolling out reissues, focusing on anniversaries, and more.
Poster for the highly-regarded documentary, “The Sound of My Voice,” which aired on CNN, Jan 1, 2020. Click for film.
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“Long Long Time” – Linda Ronstadt
By 1975, she had three Top Ten hits – “You’re No Good” (No. 1), “When Will I Be Loved” (No. 2). and “Heat Wave” (No. 5). In 1977, “Blue Bayou” and “It’s So Easy” rose respectively, to No. 3 and No. 5. “Faithless Love” is another well known Ronstadt song, as well as her cover of the Eagles tune, “Desperado.”
Heart Like a Wheel, her big No. 1 breakthrough album of late 1974, which included the hit singles “You’re No Good,” and “When Will I Be Loved,” among others, would sell more then 2 million U.S. copies, and remain in the Top 40 on the Billboard albums chart for ten weeks through early 1975. During her career, she released over 45 albums, 30 of those studio productions. Among her singles, 38 charted on Billboard’s pop chart – 21 in the Top 40 and ten in the Top 10. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music Awards, an Emmy Award, and an ALMA Award.
The range of her vocal abilities, in addition to her own hit songs, is found in her covers of American Songbook tunes, Motown songs, Buddy Holly and Everly Brothers tunes, her “trio” albums with Dolly Parton and Emmy Lou Harris, and her Mexican-American, Spanish-language albums.
Linda Ronstadt’s autobiography, “Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir” (2013), debuted as a New York Times best seller. Click for copy at Amazon.
In August 2013, Ronstadt revealed she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, leaving her unable to sing.
Her autobiography, Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir, was released in September 2013 when it debuted in the Top 10 on the New York Times best sellers list. In April 2014, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
A well-regarded documentary on her career, Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, had a CNN broadcast premiere on January 1, 2020, and would win a Grammy in 2021 for Best Music Film.
Also at this website, see “Linda & Jerry: 1971-1983,” which profiles much of her musical career, juxtaposed in a narrative chronology along with that of California politician, governor and Democrat presidential candidate, Jerry Brown, with whom she became involved during that time.
March 2021
Paul Simon on the cover of Robert Hilburn’s 2018 biography, “Paul Simon, The Life.” Click for Amazon.
In March 2021, singer-songwriter, Paul Simon, concluded a major music rights deal with Sony Music Publishing.
In the deal, Simon’s song catalog – consisting of hundreds of songs, many of them classics – was sold to Sony for approximately $250 million. Sony acquired the rights to memorable songs of the 1960s and beyond, such as: “The Sound of Silence,“ “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Grace-land,” “The Boxer,” and others.
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“The Sound of Silence”-1965-66
(Simon & Garfunkel)
In 2013, “The Sound of Silence,” for example, was added to the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important.”
A winner of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2007, Paul Simon has been a songwriting tour de force throughout his music career, first in his partnership with boyhood friend, Art Garfunkel (Simon & Garfunkel, 1962-1970), and since then, with his prolific solo career that has continued through the early 2020s. To his credit are 16 Grammy Awards, including three Album-of-the-Year awards – Bridge over Troubled Water (1971, with Garfunkel), Still Crazy After All These Years (1976), and Graceland (1987).
Simon wrote most of the Simon & Garfunkel hits – among them, “Homeward Bound” (1966), “I Am a Rock” (1966), “The Boxer” (1969), “Cecilia” (1970), and “The Only Living Boy in New York” (1970). Simon & Garfunkel albums in those years included: Sounds of Silence (1966), Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966), Bookends (1968), and their last album, Bridge over Troubled Water (1970), which was then the best-selling album of all time with 25 million sold worldwide.
 Music for “The Graduate” brought more listeners to the Simon & Garfunkel sound. Click for Amazon. |
 No. 1 “Bridge Over Troubled Water” of 1970 was the duo’s last studio album. Click for copy. |
 “Graceland,” Paul Simon’s popular No. 1 solo album of 1987 explored new genres. Click for Amazon. |
Simon also wrote and/or arranged several songs used in the soundtrack for the famous Mike Nichols / Dustin Hoffman film classic of 1967-68, The Graduate, including: “The Sound of Silence,” “Mrs. Robinson”(1968 “Record of the Year” Grammy award), “April Comes She Will” (from 1966), and “Scarborough Fair/Canticle” (partially). The Graduate film and music at the time provided a big boost to Simon & Garfunkel sales. The album had a total of nine weeks at No 1 on the Billboard albums chart during the spring of 1968. To date, at least 100 million of Simon & Garfunkel recordings have been sold worldwide. But that’s only part of the Paul Simon legacy.
Following the Simon & Garfunkel years, Simon went on to have a lauded solo career, crafting a range of music that wove in many different influences. He continued to turn out hits, among them: “Mother and Child Reunion,” “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,” “Kodachrome,” “Loves Me Like a Rock,” “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” “Still Crazy After All These Years,” “Slip Slidin’ Away,” “You Can Call Me Al,” and “Graceland.” He released 14 solo albums, including chart-toppers like Rhythm Of the Saints and Graceland, the latter of which joined the Sounds of Silence album in the National Recording Registry.
“The Essential Paul Simon” collection includes 36 of Simon’s best songs. Click for this “Amazon's Choice”.
In terms of music streaming, while not drawing top numbers like Beyoncé or Harry Styles at 30 million monthly streams on Spotify, according to Forbes magazine as of April 2021, Paul Simon and Simon & Garfunkel tunes were selected by nearly 18 million monthly listeners on Spotify, while Bob Dylan was drawing about 10 million a month. With streaming, slow and steady may take the prize in the long run – at least for the more patient investors. Simon’s music has also been used variously in advertising. In recent years, for example, “Homeward Bound” was featured in an ad for the Coldwell Banker real estate firm, while “The Sound of Silence” was used as backing music for a Volkswagen spot.
“The Best of Simon & Garfunkel,” remastered, Columbia/ Legacy, 2006. Includes 20 songs. Click for Amazon.
…When buying rights to royalties, a buyer is only acquiring the passive income from a song’s sales and streams without the copyright control.
The [Simon] deal reflects the number of different ways artists with iconic catalogs like Simon can monetize or sell their music rights. Simon is choosing to forego his earnings and take a check right away. BMG is taking on the risk and betting that the music will earn more than what they paid. But rather than work the catalog themselves, the company is putting its faith purely in Simon and Garfunkel’s growth on its own.
No doubt, in the years ahead, those classic tunes will prove their worth.
October 2021
Tina Turner
Tina Tuner during a February 1997 appearance on CNN’s “Larry King Live” talk show. Click for 2021 HBO documentary, “Tina.”
Among her most famous songs as a solo artist, for example, are: “What’s Love Got To do With It?”(1984), “Better Be Good to Me” (1984), “Private Dancer” (1984), “We Don’t Need Another Hero” (1985), “Typical Male” (1986). “[Simply] The Best” (1989), “I Don’t Wanna Fight” (1993), and “GoldenEye (1995).”
But Tina Tuner’s story is distinguished by her amazing “second act” – her 1980s comeback after some rough years in an abusive marriage with her husband and musical partner Ike Turner, with whom she began recording and performing in the late 1950s. Later known as the Ike & Tina Turner Review, they had their own string of R&B and rock hits, including: “A Fool in Love” (1960), “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” (1961), “River Deep – Mountain High” (1966), “Proud Mary” (1971), “Nutbush City Limits” (1973), and others. But after Tina’s split from Ike in 1976 — and legally reclaiming her stage name — she managed, after some struggle and hard times, to mount a solo career and amazing comeback.
Poster for Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Tour” of 1984 featuring her “Private Dancer” album. Click for album.
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“Simply The Best”-Tina Turner
Her career was also boosted as her life story emerged and details of her ordeal with Ike Turner became public with the 1986 book, I, Tina, followed by the 1993 Hollywood film, What’s Love Got To Do with It?
From the mid-1980s through the 1990s and beyond, Tina Turner became one of the biggest stars on the planet, selling out giant stadiums from New York to Rio to Amsterdam and more. During her Break Every Rule World Tour in 1988, she set a then-Guinness World Record for the largest paying audience for a solo performer – 180,000 – at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Eight years later, her Wildest Dreams World Tour, which began in the spring of 1996, continued for 16 months and included more than 250 concert dates in Europe, North America and Australasia. Known for her energetic concert performances – and according to one account in People magazine, the person who “taught Mick Jagger how to dance” – few fans were ever disappointed at a Tina Turner concert.
Tina Turner’s 2018 book, “My Love Story,” adding more detail to her life’s story. A NY Times bestseller. Click for copy.
In the UK, in fact, she was the first artist to have a top 40 hit in seven consecutive decades. Rolling Stone has ranked her among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time; she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice – with Ike Turner in 1991 and as a solo artist in 2021. She was also a 2005 recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors. In 2020, Private Dancer was added to the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.
Of the deal she made with BMG for her music rights, she said: “The protection of my life’s work, my musical inheritance, is something personal. I am confident that with BMG and Warner Music my work is in professional and reliable hands.”
After some illnesses in her later years, Tina Turner passed away in May 2023 at her home in Switzerland. She was 83. See also at this website, “Rocker Supreme: 1958-2007,” a more detailed history on Tina Turner’s career, albums, world tours, comeback, and legacy.
December 2021
Bruce Springsteen
Popular 1995 collection of Bruce Springsteen hits, plus unreleased tracks – includes: 'Born to Run', 'Dancing in the Dark', 'Hungry Heart' & more. Click for Amazon.
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“Secret Garden”- Bruce Springsteen
Springsteen, the famous New Jersey-bred rocker, is perhaps best known for his rousing classic blue-collar songs such as, “Born to Run” (1975), “Dancing in the Dark” (1984), “Born in the U.S.A.” (1984), “I’m On Fire” (1984), “Glory Days” (1985) and others. Yet he has also turned out a number of moving ballads and love songs during his career.
Among these, for example, are: “Secret Garden” (1995), sampled above, and made famous in the 1996 Tom Cruise/Renée Zellweger film, Jerry Maguire, and perhaps most powerfully, “The Streets of Philadelphia” (1994), his Oscar- and Grammy-winning song used in the 1994 Tom Hanks/Denzel Washington AIDs-related film, Philadelphia.
Bruce Springsteen is sometimes described as “an originator of heartland rock,” using socially-conscious lyrics in his music to tell stories about working-class American life. His breakout year came in 1975 with his Born to Run album, the year when Time and Newsweek both featured him on their covers in the third week of October. Springsteen has had eleven No. 1 albums in both the U.S and he U.K. Rolling Stone has ranked him at No. 23 on their “Greatest Artists of All Time” list, calling him “the embodiment of rock & roll.” The E Street Band has been Springsteen’s primary backing band since 1972 and has appeared on a majority of his studio albums and live releases.
Springsteen’s blockbuster 1984 album, “Born in the U.S.A.,” hit No. 1, produced seven Top 10 singles, and remained on the charts for more than 2 years. Click for Amazon.
Born in he U.S.A. remained in the Top Ten on the albums chart for more than two years. It was the best-selling album of 1985 in U.S. – with 15 million copies sold there and 30 million worldwide.
Overall, Springsteen has released 21 studio albums, 23 live albums, 8 compilation albums 77 singles, 66 music videos – and more, including assorted extended plays, box sets, soundtracks, and home videos. He has sold more than 71 million albums in the U.S. and over 140 million worldwide.
He has earned numerous awards, including 20 Grammys, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Special Tony Award. In 1999, he was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2009, he received Kennedy Center Honors. President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, and in 2023, he received the National Medal of Arts from President Joe Biden.
Bruce Springsteen’s 2016 book, “Born to Run,” 528 pp. Simon & Schuster. Click for this “editor’s pick” at Amazon.
Throughout his career, Springsteen consistently refused to license his music generally for TV ads, especially wary of possible misuse and/or misrepresentation. He did make one exception, however, when he appeared in a February 2021 Jeep ad during the Super Bowl to offer a message on the need for “common ground” in America.
Springsteen’s work has generally been infused with his personal politics and a helping perspective, often donating to various social causes at concert locations.
Estimates by Billboard have noted that Springsteen’s recordings and songwriting in recent years have earned about $17 million a year, after costs. His most recent albums are: Letter to You (2020) and Only The Strong Survive (2022).
On Spotify, as of August 2023, Springsteen’s songs were being streamed by about 16.5 million listeners a month. No doubt, as Sony’s $550 million investment suggests, Bruce Springsteen’s music will continue to do well for many years to come.
“Bruce Springsteen: All The Songs” book. 672 pp, illustrated. Click for Amazon.
“Barack & Bruce: 2008-2012,” focusing primarily on Springsteen’s involvement in Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns;
“Reagan & Springsteen: 1984,” story of how Ronald Reagan tried to use a reference to Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” song during his presidential campaign (includes a George Will column);
“Streets of Philadelphia: 1993-1994,” a story about the 1994 AIDs-related Hollywood film, Philadelphia, that includes Springsteen’s emotionally-powerful and Oscar/Grammy/Golden Globe/MTV-winning song, “Streets of Philadel-phia;” and,
“Steinbeck to Springsteen: 1939-2006,” about the famous John Steinbeck book of 1939, The Grapes of Wrath, on Depression-era migrants that includes Springsteen’s 1995 song and album, The Ghost of Tom Joad.
January 2022
David Bowie
In January 2022, David Bowie’s entire catalog of more than 400 songs was sold to Warner-Chappell for an estimated $250 million. The deal came six years after his death from liver cancer at age 69 in 2016. Warner-Chappell now owns hundreds of Bowie’s hit recordings, such as: “Space Oddity”(1969), “Changes” (1972), “Rebel Rebel” (1974), “Fame” (1975), “Golden Years” (1975), “Heroes”(1977),“Let’s Dance”(1983), “Ziggy Stardust” (1972), as well as collaborations, such as that with Queen on “Under Pressure” (1981). The deal also includes songs he made for soundtracks or other projects,
Photo of David Bowie (1947-2016) that appeared with his New York Times obituary, January 11, 2016. It was taken at the Cannes Film Festival in France in 1983. Photo, Ralph Gatti. Click for David Bowie photos, posters at Amazon.
During his lifetime, Bowie’s record sales, estimated at over 100 million records worldwide, made him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. In the UK, he released eleven No.1 albums and was awarded ten platinum, eleven gold, and eight silver album certifications. In the US, he received five platinum and nine gold certifications. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Rolling Stone ranks him among the greatest artists in history.
At his passing in January 2016, Jon Parles of the New York Times described David Bowie as, “the infinitely changeable, fiercely forward-looking songwriter who taught generations of musicians about the power of drama, images and personas.” His works ranged across a wide field of styles and musical genres, often taking on personalities, experimental fashion, and appearances to fit his messaging.
Dylan Jones 2018 paperback, “David Bowie: The Oral History.” Click for Amazon “editor’s pick,” biographies.
Among his musical adventures and portrayed characters were those related to outer space and space travel. Consider, for example, his major 1969 hit song, “Space Oddity.”
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“Space Oddity” – 1969
(sound begins slowly)
“Space Oddity” was inspired, in part, by Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, which Bowie had seen. Bowie’s song is a tale about a fictional astronaut named Major Tom, and is also said to have been influenced by Bowie’s state of mind at the time and his career struggles.
In any case, “Space Oddity” was rush-released in July 1969 as a single to capitalize on the U.S. Apollo 11 Moon landing mission, which occurred over eight days, July 16th-24th. “Space Oddity” hit the airwaves 5 days prior to the Apollo launch, and British television used it as background music during coverage of the landing until the BBC realized some of Major Tom’s troubles in the lyrics, and ceased playing it until the Apollo 11 crew safely returned home. Still, in later years, it became one of Bowie’s seminal hits. A 1972 reissue of “Space Oddity” by RCA Records was Bowie’s first U.S. hit and was promoted with a new music video. A November 1975 reissue of the song as part of a maxi-single, became Bowie’s first UK No. 1 single.
But the space theme and alien space visitors would serve as important expressive vehicles for Bowie in later songs, including, most importantly, the song “Ziggy Stardust” and its parent album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972). As Wikipedia has noted:
David Bowie;s famous 1972 album, “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.” Click for copy.
“Ziggy Stardust is an androgynous, alien rock star who came to Earth before an impending apocalyptic disaster to deliver a message of hope. After accumulating a large following of fans and being worshiped as a messiah, Ziggy eventually dies as a victim of his own fame and excess. The character was meant to symbolize an over-the-top, sexually liberated rock star and serve as a commentary on a society in which celebrities are worshiped.”
“Ziggy Stardust’s exuberant fashion made the character and Bowie himself staples in the glam rock repertoire well into the 1970s, defining what the genre would become. The success of the character and its iconic look flung Bowie into international superstardom.”
Bowie also starred in the 1976 film, The Man Who Fell to Earth. Other space references in Bowie’s work appear in the popular 1972 song “Starman,” and another revisiting Major Tom in “Ashes to Ashes” (1980). Given the space exploration yet to come, plus the activities of billionaire space entrepreneurs – e.g., Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson – David Bowie’s space music and themes, in one form or another, are likely to be heard quite often in the future. And of course, there’s a lot more to Bowie’s catalog that space music.
“Moonage Daydream,” a 2022 documentary film about David Bowie, was released in September 2022 and appeared on HBO in 2023, Click for Amazon.
During his career, David Bowie released 128 singles, 26 studio albums, 9 live albums, 2 soundtrack albums, 26 compilation albums, 8 extended plays, 28 video albums, 72 music videos. With his passing since 2016, additional albums and box sets have been released. As of August 2023, David Bowie’s music on Spotify had more then 16.5 million listeners monthly.
Clearly, the new owners of David Bowie’s musical legacy will have ample material to exploit for new and future projects.
In making the deal with Bowie’s estate, Warner-Chappell’s Carianne Marshall noted: “This fantastic pact with the David Bowie estate opens up a universe of opportunities to take his extraordinary music into dynamic new places. This isn’t merely a catalog, but a living, breathing collection of timeless songs that are as powerful and resonant today as they were when they were first written. We were pleased that the estate felt that Warner-Chappell has the knowledge, experience, and resources to take the reins and continue to promote a collection of this stature. All of our global leaders and departments are incredibly excited and primed to get to work with these brilliant songs across multiple avenues and platforms….”
Previously, in September 2021, Warner had signed a global deal with Bowie’s estate to bring his vast recorded-music catalog from 1968 through 2016 under the company’s umbrella – including Bowie albums from 2000 through 2016 which were originally released via Sony Music.
February 2022
Sting’s Music
April 2018. Sting performing at Queen’s 92nd birthday at Royal Albert Hall in London. Click for Sting biography.
“It is absolutely essential to me that my career’s body of work have a home where it is valued and respected,” Sting said at the time of the deal. “Not only to connect with longtime fans in new ways but also to introduce my songs to new audiences, musicians, and generations.”
Music Player
“If Ever I Lose My Faith in You”
Sting – 1993
Sting was formerly frontman, song-writer, and bassist with the group Police from 1977-1986, helping that group score five UK chart-topping albums, win six Grammy Awards, two Brit Awards, and more. Then as a solo performer between 1985 and 2021, he would continue his career with more popular music. More on that in a moment.
Among top hits he wrote with the Police, for example, are: “Message in a Bottle” (1979), “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” (1981), “Every Breath You Take” (1983) and “Roxanne” hit on 1979 reissue). “Every Breath You Take” and “Roxanne” appear on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The Police, meanwhile, sold more than 75 million recordings worldwide. A Police reunion tour in 2007 was the highest-grossing tour that year. In 2019, Sting received a BMI Award for “Every Breath You Take” becoming the most-played song in radio history, replacing the former leader, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” by the Righteous Brothers from 1965.
As a solo performer between 1985 and 2021, Sting released 15 albums, many of which were million sellers and Top Ten U.S. and/or UK performers, among them: The Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985), Soul Cages (1991), Ten Summoner’s Tales (1993), Nothing Like The Sun (1997) and Sacred Love (2003). His most recent album, The Bridge, was released in November 2021.
Sting’s compilation album of 1994, “Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984-1994,” a Top Ten performer in the U.S. and all across Europe. Click for Amazon.
Sting has established himself as an artist pushing out the boundaries of pop music, incorporating elements of jazz, classical, and world music into his writing and songs, and collaborating with other artists, for example, on North African raï music and Jamaican reggae. He has also appeared in various films, written stage productions, and with his wife, Trudie Styler, plus his own activism, used his celebrity to help advance various social, humanitarian, and environmental causes.
Sting has won numerous music, performance and honorary awards in both the UK and the U.S. As a solo musician and a member of the Police, Sting has collected 17 Grammy Awards. In 2002, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has also won a Golden Globe, an Emmy, and four Oscar nominations for Best Original Song. In addition, he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2000); was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to music (2003); received a French award for cultural enrichment (2007); and was lauded at the White House as a Kennedy Center honoree (2014).
February 2022 Wall Street Journal story by Anne Steele reporting on Sting’s sale of his catalog to Universal Music with photo of Sting performing. The deal, covering more than 600 of his songs, was estimated at $300 million.
Sting’s music rights deal with Universal covers both the copyrights for his songs — of which there are more than 600 — and his royalties as a songwriter, which means Universal will receive all future music publishing income from his work in the catalog.
One indication that Sting’s music will continue to generate good economic returns for Universal in the future is its use by other artists. His songs have already been covered by many artists, among them: George Michael, Johnny Cash, Herbie Hancock, Isaac Hayes, Eva Cassidy, Violet Femmes, Gloria Gaynor, Shirley Bassey, and Fall Out Boy. His works have also been sampled widely, including by newer artists, among them: Nas, The Roots, 2Pac, RZA, Kygo & Avicii, Black Eyed Peas, Craig David, French Montana, Talib Kweli, Fugees and Cam’ron.
“The Very Best of Sting & The Police”( 2002), with 18 tracks. Click for Amazon.
Translation: every stream or radio play of a Sting sample or cover will now mean income for Universal.
In March 2022, Sting resumed his “My Songs” world tour and as of June 2022 was scheduled to begin a residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. On the basis of his music rights deal with Universal, plus his Los Vegas performance residency, he is now one of the ten wealthiest people in the British music industry.
Two additional stories on Sting’s music at this website include: “Sting: ‘Russians’, 1985,” a profile of his “cold war” song that calls out all sides – Khrushchev, Oppenheimer, Reagan’s “Star Wars” initiative, etc., and, “Sting & Jaguar, 1999-2001,” on how Sting and Jaguar teamed up to help promote a new song and new music with Algerian raï singer, Cheb Mami on “Desert Rose.”
Music Rights Boom
The music stars profiled above with their mega-million music rights deals, are not the only artists who have been selling all or parts of their music output.
Among other deals announced in recent years – with estimated or rumored values attached – include, for example: Alice in Chains (in part, $50 million), James Brown ($90 million), Gerry Beckley & Dewey Bunnell w/America ($40 million), Phil Collins/Genesis ($300 million), Bing Crosby estate ($50 million), Gerry Goffin ($20 million), David Guetta ($100 million), Imagine Dragons ($100 million), Huey Lewis & the News ($20 million), Motley Crue ($90 million), Jeff Porcaro w/Toto ($30 million), Joey Ramone ($10 million), Red Hot Chili Peppers ($140-$150 million), Sun Records (including Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis masters) $30 million, Justin Timberlake ($100 million), and Luther Vandross ($40 million). A partial list of other artists — including some songwriters and producers — who have also sold all or parts of their music rights, is shown below right.
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Music Deals Aerosmith |
A contributing factor for some artists selling all or parts of their catalogs or other rights in recent years had been the Covid pandemic and the closing of performance venues during 2020-2021, resulting in a major hit on artist income from touring revenue. But the larger power now, it seems, is streaming.
The age of streaming has vastly improved the asset value of music. The industry has had a major turnaround since the days of the on-line free-for-all, when songs were downloaded and shared and traded for free, when a kind of technological anarchy reigned, depressing artist and recoding industry income. A December 2021 New York Times story described the turnaround and rising economic value the music business:
…Streaming and the global growth of subscription services like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube have turned the industry’s fortunes around. One result is a spike in the pricing of catalogs of music rights to both recordings and to the songs themselves.
New investors, including private equity firms, have poured billions of dollars into the market, viewing music royalties as a kind of safe commodity — an investment, somewhat like real estate, with predictable rates of return and relatively low risk.
For major music conglomerates like Sony and Universal, which bought Dylan’s songs, such deals help them consolidate power and gain negotiating leverage with streaming services and other tech companies, like social-media, exercise services or gaming platforms, that often make blanket deals to use music.
Surveying the field of eligible candidates, economist Barry M. Massarsky, who specializes in calculating the value of music catalogs on behalf of investors, told the New York Times in December 2021. “In the last year alone, we did 300 valuations worth over $6.5 billion.”
In 2022, according to Graphic News, Goldman Sachs predicted that revenue in the global music industry would grow at a compound annual rate of 12 per cent between 2021 and 2030, with revenues hitting more than $150 billion.
In addition to the artist deals already mentioned or listed at right, more of the same has continued in 2023 with music rights sold by other prominent artists.
In January 2023, Justin Bieber sold the rights to his back catalog to Hipgnosis-Blackstone in a deal reportedly worth $200 million that will exploit the value of the songs’ revenue from global streaming and more. Hipgnosis will control Bieber’s entire portfolio released before 2022, which includes some 290 tracks. Hipgnosis and U.S. private equity group Blackstone will receive a payment every time a Bieber song is played publicly or streamed. Merck Mercuriadis, the founder of Hipgnosis Song Management, quoted in a January 2023 Graphic News.com story, said hit songs now can be “more valuable than gold or oil.”
Also in 2023, Dr. Dre, made a deal with Universal Music Group & Shamrock Holdings for artist and writer royalties valued at $200 million; Metro Boomin, an American record producer, record executive, and DJ working in hip hop and other genres made a $70 million deal with Shamrock Capital for a portion of his publishing catalog; and Sarah McLachlan made an April 2023 deal for an undisclosed amount with Primary Wave for a majority stake in her recorded catalog.
Kilometre Music Group, a Canadian music rights management group, is targeting younger stars with more recent hits. “We have 56 songs by The Weeknd, 31 by Drake, 26 songs by Post Malone and 12 by Bieber,” explained Rodney Murphy of Kilometre to Billboard in October 2021. “We believe it’s worth investing in those songs because those are going to be the biggest catalog songs of the future. We’re in the business of nostalgia and legacy lifelong copyrights and believe that these are the ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ and The Beatles and Michael Jackson catalog songs of tomorrow.”
Big labels and upstart investment firms are buying up other music companies that already hold catalog collections.And then there are the merger and acquisition deals in the music investing business, where both big labels and upstart investment firms are buying up other music companies that already hold catalog collections.
The Warner Music Group, for example, shelled out roughly $400 million in December 2021 to acquire independent label 300 Entertainment, home to artists such as Megan Thee Stallion and Mary J. Blige. Six months earlier, in July 2021, the Warner group also acquired 12Tone Music, which includes American rapper, songwriter and producer Anderson .Paak, and also country powerhouse, Dolly Parton, among its artists.
The Hipgnosis Songs Fund, mentioned earlier, has been moving at warp speed in recent years, making some very major deals. Founded in 2018, it is now a publicly-traded company on the London Stock Exchange. In November 2020, Hipgnosis acquired 42 catalogs from Kobalt Music Group, comprising 1,500 songwriters and 33,000 songs, for $322.9 million. Among the songs acquired in that deal, for example, were those from Nettwerk, 50 Cent, Skrillex, The B-52s, Enrique Iglesias, and Steve Winwood. As of December 2021, the Hipgnosis catalog haul had grown to 65,000 songs worth $2.55 billion. Among the many songs it now holds, for example, are any number of top performers, such as Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You,” Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” and “Uptown Funk,” by British producer Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars.
 Canadian rapper Drake made a “360 deal” – i.e., recordings, publishing, merchandise, media projects, etc. – said to be worth $400 million. Click for Amazon page. |
 Taylor Swift’s experience w/ sell-off of her master recordings helped spotlight the issue for reform & other artists, as she moved to re-record lost songs. Click for Amazon page. |
Canadian rapper, Drake, reportedly made a deal with Universal that was negotiated in 2021 and surfaced in 2022, said to be worth $400 million. According to Variety, Drake’s Universal deal was called “Lebron-sized” (a reference to professional basketball superstar, LeBron James) because of its value and its scope – encompassing “recordings, publishing, merchandise, and visual media projects.”
Not a legacy deal like those of other artists nearing the end of their careers, Drake’s deal is one of an active artist with years of current production still ahead of him. Some call this kind of deal, a “360 deal” – i.e., when a record label can take a portion of every form of income that an artist may make off of his or her music. While recent music rights deals have resulted in seemingly happy and satisfied parties on all sides, that is not always the case. The rise of the 360 deal, say industry insiders, correlates directly with the rise of digital music.
While recent music rights deals have resulted in seemingly happy and satisfied parties on all sides, that is not always the case. Artists including the Beatles and the Rolling Stones in the past, and even Taylor Swift more recently, have had unhappy experiences with labels, managers and/or investors who have taken advantage of, or otherwise made self-serving or exploitive deals with artists’ music rights – deals that often cost those artists big time. Swift’s troubles of 2019-2020, in particular, helped bring an important spotlight on the issue of artists’ rights, intellectual property and ethics in the music industry.
In any case, it appears there will be many more music rights deals ahead, as the world of music economics continues to change and consolidate, with both major music companies and new investors accounting for a growing share of music wealth and music ownership worldwide – becoming an entertainment power center all its own.
Other stories at this website for music and music history can be found at the “Annals of Music” category page, and for business, at the “Business & Society” page. Thanks for visiting – and if you like what you find here please make a donation to help support the research, writing and continued publication of this website. Thank you. – Jack Doyle
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Date Posted: 29 August 2023
Last Update: 26 March 2024
Comments to: jackdoyle47@gmail.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PopHistoryDig
Article Citation:
Jack Doyle, “Music Rights Deals: Selected Artists,
2020s” PopHistoryDig.com, August 29, 2023.
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Music at Amazon.com…
 “Best of Bowie” album, w/20 of his songs; an “Amazon’s choice” rating. Click for CD or digital. |
 Drake’s 2011 album, “Take Care,” deluxe edition w/17 tracks & collaborations. Click for Amazon. |
 “Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits” – certified 5X platinum; his best-selling album in the U. S. Click for Amazon. |
Sources, Links & Additional Information
 Michael D. Smith & Rahul Telang’s book, “Streaming, Sharing, Stealing: Big Data and the Future of Entertainment,” MIT Press, 232pp. Click for Amazon. |
 Bob Dylan’s best-selling, “Chronicles: Volume One,” 2005 paperback, Simon & Schuster, 320pp. Click for Amazon. |
 2012 book by Ken Caillat & Steve Stiefel, “Making Rumours: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album,” Trade Paper Press, 384 pp. Click for Amazon, |
 Beach Boys’ studio wunderkind & songwriting genius, Brian Wilson’s 2016 book (w/ Ben Geenman), “I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir,” Da Capo Press, 336 pp. Click for Amazon. |
 Neil Young’s memoir/autobiography, “Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream,” 2013 paperback edition, illustrated, 512pp. One reviewer called it “hilarious, poignant;” another, “you don’t want it to end.” A NY Times bestseller. Click for Amazon. |
 John O'Connell’s 2019 book, “Bowie's Bookshelf: The Hundred Books That Changed David Bowie's Life,” Gallery Books, 320 pp. (see also audio & CD editions). Click for Amazon. |
 Tina Turner's “All the Best” album – a greatest hits compilation released in the U.K. as a two-disc set in November 2004, followed by a February 2005 release in the U.S. and abridged single-disc version in October 2005. Click for Amazon. |
 Daniel J. Levitin’s best-selling book, “This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession” 2007 paperback edition, Plume/Penguin 322pp. Click for Amazon. |
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Bob Gersztyn, “Top 10 Neil Young Songs,” BluesRockReview.com, January 13, 2022.
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Patrick Doyle, “Inside the Ambitious Plan to Monetize the Beach Boys’ Legacy; Brian Wilson, Mike Love, and Al Jardine on Why They’ve Sold a Controlling Interest in Their Intellectual Property to a New Company Led by Irving Azoff…,” Rolling Stone, February 18, 2021.
“The Beach Boys Discography,” Wikipedia .org.
Angie Martoccio, “Linda Ronstadt Sells Catalog to Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group,” RollingStone.com, March 22, 2021.
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Ariel Shapiro, “Inside Paul Simon’s Catalog Sale: At $250 Million, It’s One Of Music’s Biggest,” Forbes.com, April 30, 2021.
Andy Lewis, “Song Catalogs Are Selling for Big Bucks, But Will the Trend End on a Bum Note?,” LAmag.com, June 14, 2021.
Jem Aswad, “Paul Simon Sells ‘Substantial Stake’ of Music Catalog to BMG,” Variety.com, June 22, 2023.
Ethan Millman, “Paul Simon Sells Off Rights to Simon and Garfunkel Royalties; a Source Familiar with the Matter Says the BMG Deal Was Worth Eight Figures,” RollingStone.com, June 22, 2023.
“Simon & Garfunkel Discography,” Wikipe-dia.org.
Tim Ingham, “Aerosmith Hands Entire Catalog to Universal Music Group,” Rolling Stone.com, August 23, 2021.
Elise Brisco, “Tina Turner Sells Extensive Music Catalog to BMG Music Company in New Deal,” USAToday.com, October 7, 2021.
“Tina Turner,” Wikipedia.org.
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Ben Sisario, “Bruce Springsteen Sells Music Catalog in Massive Deal…For an Estimated $550 million,” NYTimes.com, December 15, 2021.
Ben Sisario, “A $550 Million Springsteen Deal? It’s Glory Days for Catalog Sales; Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Tina Turner and Others Have All Sold Rights to Their Music for Eye-popping Prices. Here’s Why,” NYTimes.com, December 20, 2021.
“Bruce Springsteen Discography,” Wikipedia .org.
“The 100 Greatest Bruce Springsteen Songs; An Expert Panel of Writers and Artists Pick Springsteen’s Best Songs, From ‘Rosalita’ to ‘Wrecking Ball’,” RollingStone.com, December 11, 2018.
Marisa Dellatto, “David Bowie’s Music Catalog Reportedly Sold For $250 Million,” Forbes.com, January 3, 2022,
Jon Pareles, “David Bowie Dies at 69; Star Transcended Music, Art and Fashion,” NYTimes.com, January 11, 2016.
Jem Aswad, “David Bowie’s Estate Sells His Publishing Catalog to Warner Chappell,” Variety.com, January 3, 2022.
Robert Levine, “David Bowie’s Estate Sells Publishing Catalog to Warner Chappell; The Deal Includes Every Song That Bowie Wrote,” Billboard.com, January 3, 2022.
Chloe Melas, “Why Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks and More Artists Have Sold Their Music Catalogs,” CNN.com, January 25, 2022.
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https://www.universalmusic.com/universal-music-publishing-group-acquires-stings-song-catalog/
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Amy McCarthy, “Musical Artists Whose Publishing Catalogs Have Commanded Big Bucks,” YardBarker.com, updated, February 9, 2023.
Alan Cross, “Here’s a Running List of Artists Who Have Sold Some or All of Their Song Catalogues to a New Breed of Company,” aJournalofMusicalThings.com, March 3, 2023.
L.B. Cantrell, “Veteran Attorney Jess L. Rosen Talks Catalog Sales: A Rising Trend in the Music Business,” MusicRow.com, October/ November 2022.
Duncan Mil, “Superstar Music Publishing Deals,” GraphicNews.com, January 25, 2023.
Shirley Halperin, “Drake Strikes Massive, Multi-Faceted Deal With Universal Music Group,” Variety.com, May 3, 2022.
Karen Bliss, “…Canadian Music Rights Management Company Kilometre Music Group Has Closed Two Song Catalog Deals with Copyrights to 383 Songs from Drake and Other Hitmakers,” Billboard.com, October 6, 2021.
“Primary Wave Acquires Bing Crosby Catalog for $50 Million,” New York Daily News, October 2021.
“Taylor Swift Masters Controversy,” Wikipe-dia.org.
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Books at Amazon.com…
 “All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Beatles Release,” every album, every song, 1963-1970. Click for Amazon. |
 Glenn C. Altschuler’s “All Shook Up: How Rock 'n' Roll Changed America,” Oxford University Press, 240 pp. Click for Amazon. |
 “The Rolling Stones All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track” (2022 expanded ed.). 340 songs, 760pp. Click for Amazon. |