Having become a bit of a trend in the last year or so, David Bowie (or more appropriately David Bowie’s estate) is the latest artist to hand over the publishing rights to his music in exchange for a lump sum from the distributing record label. According to an anonymous source that spoke to Variety; after months of negotiations Warner Chappell Music (WMC), a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, have purchased a catalogue spanning over 6 decades that features such timeless classics as “Life on Mars”, “Heroes”, “Space Oddity”, “Changes”, and many… many others for around $250 Million.
The acquisition now covers all 26 of Bowie’s studio albums, including the posthumous album Toy (released only a few months ago), 2 Tin Machine albums, and whatever portion of royalties was agreed to go to Bowie on any collaborations; such as his 1981 outing with Queen; “Under Pressure”. Back in September, it was revealed that WMC had filed a deal to acquire the rights for all his music from 2000-2016. But now the deal has progressed to include everything from 1968-2000 as well. All in all, the deal covers hundreds of songs both labelled as David Bowie songs or any side projects he undertook from 1968 up to his death in 2016. This leaves a small cache of recordings that WMC don’t actually own the rights to, Bowie’s self-titled debut for example.
Chief executive of WMC, Guy Moot, had this to say about the deal, “These are not only extraordinary songs but milestones that have changed the course of modern music forever” adding, “We are looking forward to tending his unparalleled body of songs with passion and care as we strive to build on the legacy of this most extraordinary human being.”
While Bowie is the most recent to have his publishing rights handed away, it may not all be as bad as it immediately seems for the older artists that seem to have hopped on the idea. Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and various members of Fleetwood Mac have all handed over their rights for lump sums in the hundreds of millions. This may be down to the dwindling ability to tour, they’re hardly making the millions they did back in the day through streaming, so $300 Million to an 80-year-old Bob Dylan… I understand the appeal.
Maybe the acquisition of these timeless classics to cash-grabbing billion-dollar corporations might end up with your favourite old classic being used in ways that may not necessarily agree with an artist you love. But the good news is, your favourite artist clearly doesn’t care.
