Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie. What do these artists have in common? They are of course some of the most successful and influential musicians of the 20th century. But they (or their estates, in the case of Bowie, who died in 2016) have also all recently sold their catalogues in high-value deals. We are witnessing a boom time for songwriting acquisitions.
On 3 January it was reported that the publishing rights to Bowie’s catalogue had been sold to Warner Chappell Music (the publishing arm of Warner Music Group) in a deal worth at least $250m (around £185m). The agreement comprises 26 studio albums and more than 400 songs, including “Heroes” and “Ziggy Stardust”, and the rights to the posthumous album Toy, which was released on 26 November 2021. The deal focused on Bowie’s publishing rights (songwriting copyright) as opposed to the rights to his master recordings, which Warner acquired in September 2021. The majority of Bowie’s music is now owned not by his estate, but by one of the world’s largest entertainment conglomerates.
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