- By: Julia Dzurillay
Published on December 20, 2021
Original Article on Showbiz Cheatsheet
Bruce Springsteen has sold the masters of his entire catalog to Sony Music and the coinciding music publishing rights to Sony Music Publishing in a combined deal of around $500 million, Billboard reports. The New York Times, however, reports the figure at $550 million. Springsteen’s catalog includes over 300 songs, 20 studio albums, 23 live LPs, 7 EPs, and more.
For his entire 50-year-long career, Springsteen has released his albums through Sony imprint Columbia Records. He was granted ownership of his earlier records in the late 1980s and 1990s as an incentive to re-sign with the label. Last month, Springsteen was in negotiations with Sony to sell his album catalog while he also simultaneously shopped around his publishing catalog, which was under Universal Music Publishing Group, according to Billboard.
This deal arrives one year after Universal Music Publishing Group purchased Bob Dylan’s extensive publishing catalog for more than $300 million. In 2019, the master rights to Taylor Swift’s first six albums were sold for over $300 million as well.
Springsteen’s most recent studio album, Letter to You, came out in October 2020. He also recently reissued The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts last month.
