Bruce Springsteen has reportedly sold his music catalog to Sony Music for reportedly $500 million. Billboard was the first to report the news. The sale reportedly includes the entire recorded and published music by him. It is considered to be the highest single-artist catalog deal. Earlier, Universal had bought Bob Dylan’s catalog for about $400 million.
Although several outlets contacted reps for both Sony and Springsteen, they either declined to respond or did not respond when asked for comment. However, sources on the condition of anonymity, said that it was a done deal.
Bruce Springsteen remains one of the most successful music artists in the U.S. His catalog includes multiplatinum albums such as
Born in the U.S.A.
Born to Run
Darkness on the Edge of Town.
Bruce Springsteen has won 20 Grammy awards in his entire career. He has been singing and recording music from the over five decades. Bruce Springsteen first signed with Sony Music’s Columbia Records in 1972. He got back the rights to his music in the nineteen nineties as a part of his contract renegotiations.
According to a report by BBC News, Bruce Springsteen had said that his intention was to make an album with words that were like those of Bob Dylan, which sounded like Phil Spector and the album would finally have him singing like Roy Orbison. This description encapsulates his style and could explain his broad appeal to scores of fans not only in the U.S. but across the world.
Billboard reported that the 2020 revenue of his album catalog was about $15 million. His publishing catalog also generates about $7.5 million per year. In the U.S., his album sales have been 65.5 million and he is popular worldwide.
Bruce Springsteen has also had several successful tours. Pollstar reported that he earned more than $840 million between 2010 and 2019, one decade in his career that has spanned more than half a century. It is not known whether live archival recordings on his website, which are another money spinner, are part of the deal.
Many musicians who reach retirement age have been negotiating with labels to sell their rights so as to leave their heirs with less hassles. A capital gains tax proposal by the Democrats has also made selling catalogs more viable. Bruce Springsteen might is not only one of the most popular U.S. musicians ever, but might also become the musician who got the best deal for his music catalog.
