Warner Music Group has reached an agreement to buy David Bowie’s songs for roughly $250 million, bringing virtually all of the musician’s work under one corporate roof.
The entire songwriting catalog of David Bowie, including classics such as “Space Oddity,” “Let’s Dance” and “Heroes,” has been sold to Warner Music in the latest blockbuster music rights deal.
On Monday, Warner Music Group’s music publishing arm, Warner Chappell, announced that it had reached a deal for Bowie’s entire creative output as a songwriter, from the songs on his 1967 debut album “David Bowie,” through his final release “Blackstar,” which was released just before his death in 2016 at 69 years old.
The collection will include more than 400 songs from various eras, including soundtrack music and material from Bowie’s short-lived band Tin Machine in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The purchase was valued between $250 million and $300 million, despite the fact that it was not announced.
“These aren’t just fantastic songs, but they’re also milestones that have altered the course of music history,” Warner Chappell’s CEO stated in a statement.
Warner’s contract, which was signed late last month, is the latest in a string of huge music rights deals, owing to the growing value of music in the streaming age and Wall Street interest in music as an “alternative investment.” In January, Springsteen sold his songwriting and recording career to Sony Music Entertainment for roughly $550 million. The copyrights for recorded music are not the same as those for songwriting, which cover the lyrics and melodies underlying any performance or recording of song.
Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Mötley Crüe, ZZ Top, and Shakira have all had big sales in recent months.
Warner acquired Bowie’s songwriting rights for $7.5 million, which gives it access to virtually all of the star’s music. The company announced another arrangement with the Bowie family in September giving Warner Music the rights to distribute every recording made by Bowie since 1968 — although not his debut, which is still owned by Universal Music.
Last year, the Bowie family launched “Bowie 75,” a “retail experience” connected to what would have been his 75th birthday, with pop-up stores in New York and London that included immersive audiovisual presentations as well as apparel, music, and other memorabilia for sale. They will remain open until late January.
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