Since 2013, annual revenues made by plays of Bon Jovi’s 34-year-old hit Livin’ on a Prayer have increased by 153%.įollowing more than a decade of plummeting CD sales, the music industry is undergoing a revival. The streaming revolution is proving to be a particular moneyspinner for owners of song rights to older hits. In the second quarter of this year, at the height of the global pandemic, Spotify reported a 29% year-on-year increase in monthly users as revenues hit €1.8bn (£1.6bn). Merck Mercuriadis, the founder of Hipgnosis and former manager of acts including Elton John, Iron Maiden, Guns N’ Roses and Beyoncé, has described investing in music royalties as a better bet than gold or oil, as their evergreen nature makes for uninterrupted returns even when wider economic markets are struggling.
Jody Gerson, the chief executive of Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), said: “To represent the body of work of one of the greatest songwriters of all time, whose cultural importance cannot be overstated, is both a privilege and a responsibility.” Unlike most big-name artists, who are locked into deals giving up publishing rights early in their career, Dylan owned the rights to his own music, which was administered outside the US by Sony/ATV Publishing. Dylan has produced more than 50 albums and continues to tour, playing about 100 concerts a year. Other back-catalogue investments include Michael Jackson’s purchase of 250 Lennon-McCartney songs as part of a $47.5m deal in 1985.ĭylan’s songs remain hugely popular, having been recorded more than 6,000 times by dozens of artists, including Adele, Guns N’ Roses, Bob Marley, U2 and Stevie Wonder. In November, the publishing rights to Taylor Swift’s first six albums, the subject of a bitter row between the singer and owner Big Machine, were sold to a private equity group, Shamrock, for more than $300m.
#DILLON GUITAR SOLD AT AUCTION MAC#
Last week it was revealed that Stevie Nicks, the Fleetwood Mac singer and solo artist, sold a majority stake in her publishing catalogue for $100m to the music publisher Primary Wave. The London-listed Hipgnosis Songs Fund, which gives investors the chance to make money from royalties generated by songs by artists from Beyoncé to Blondie, has spent £1.2bn buying 117 catalogues to date.
#DILLON GUITAR SOLD AT AUCTION TV#
“Nor is it a secret that Bob is one of the very greatest practitioners of that art.”Īrtists and songwriters receive a royalty every time a song is played on the radio, streamed or used in public places such as department stores, as well as income from sales of albums, singles and licensing music for use in TV adverts and films.Ĭashing in on catalogues is a booming business. “It’s no secret that that the art of songwriting is the fundamental key to all great music,” said Sir Lucian Grainge, the chief executive of Universal Music.
Bob Dylan, ‘one of the very greatest practitioners of the art of songwriting’, on stage in 2010.
0 kommentar(er)
