Bob Dylan has sold the publishing rights of all his music recordings to Sony Music in a new deal that has made a splash in the music industry. According to the estimates of the American music magazine Billboard, the amount of the deal is approximately 200 million dollars.
The deal includes all of Dylan’s current recordings, from classic albums released in the 1960s like Blonde On Blonde to Rough And Rowdy Ways released in 2020.
Sony Music also acquired the rights to Dylan’s 39 studio albums, 16 compilation albums with unlicensed songs, known as bootlegs, and unreleased material that may be compiled and released in the future.
‘I am glad that all my records remain where they belong’
The company said in a press release that the 80-year-old artist also extended his recording contract with Sony’s Columbia Records, promising “multiple new albums in the future”.
Rob Stringer, Sony Music Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sony Music, said: “Columbia Records has had a special relationship with Bob Dylan since the beginning of his career and we are very proud and excited to continue to grow and develop our ongoing 60-year partnership.”
“Bob is one of music’s greatest icons and an artist with unrivaled genius. We are excited to work with Bob and his team to find new ways to present his music to his many fans today and to future generations.”
Dylan said in a statement, “Columbia Records and Rob Stringer have been nothing but good to me for many years. I’m glad all my records stay where they belong.”
Dylan previously sold all rights to his songs to Universal Music.
before the pandemic**si 80 per year–He was giving 100 concerts**
One of rock’s most influential and groundbreaking artists, Dylan’s work made him the first songwriter to win the Nobel Prize in literature in 2016. The artist sold more than 125 million records worldwide in the same year.
The artist was named Robert Zimmerman when he was born in Minnesota, USA. When he stepped onto the folk scene in New York City’s Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, a star was born who blended folk music, protest songs and psychedelic poetry. Dylan has become a worldwide icon of counterculture.
His self-titled debut album was released by Columbia Records in 1962, and his work has continued to influence major artists such as David Bowie and The Beatles.
Her songs such as Mr Tambourine Man, Like A Rolling Stone and Make You Feel My Love are still extremely popular and almost everyone from Adele to Guns N’ Roses to Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder has done covers of these songs.
Before the pandemic, Dylan was regularly giving 80 to 100 concerts each year. He made 22 appearances in 2021 and has 27 more on his agenda for the first half of 2022.
1** in first half of 2021 for Sony catalogs,** spent 4 billion dollars
In recent years, record companies and investment firms have made cascading deals to buy the rights to songs and recordings from artists such as David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Tina Turner, Blondie, Taylor Swift, David Guetta and Shakira.
Sony, one of the prominent players in this field, paid $ 500 million for Bruce Springsteen’s catalog at the end of December. The company spent a total of $1.4 billion on these deals in the first six months of 2021.
The deals provide financial security for artists. In return, companies hope to create new revenue streams through the playing of classic songs on streaming apps, movie and TV licenses, merchandise, cover versions and royalties from performances.