By: TJVNews.com
On Monday, the Universal Music Publishing Group announced signing a landmark deal to purchase Bob Dylan’s entire songwriting catalog. The 60’s Iconic singer and songwriter, now 79, sold control of songwriting copyrights for all his roughly 600 songs, produced over 58 years, including his world famous classics such as “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “The Times They Are A-Changin’” and “Like a Rolling Stone”.
As reported by the NY Times, the deal may be the largest acquisition ever for a single songwriter and his music publishing rights. The price was not divulged, but the NY Times estimates it to be over $300 million. “It’s no secret that the art of songwriting is the fundamental key to all great music, nor is it a secret that Bob is one of the very greatest practitioners of that art,” Lucian Grainge, the chief executive of the Universal Music Group, said in a statement.
Dylan’s music is considered a gem trove. In 2016, the artist won the Nobel Prize in Literature “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”
This year has been filled with publishers and investors raising billions of dollars to purchase music catalogs from writers. Last week, Stevie Nicks, the singer and songwriter sold an 80 percent stake in her songwriting catalog for roughly $80 million to Primary Wave Music, an independent publisher. British company, Hipgnosis Songs Fund, recently revealed that it spent around $670 million between March to September purchasing rights for over 44,000 songs by artists including Rick James, Barry Manilow, Blondie, Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders and more.
The publishing companies are betting big that they can make money by acquiring the catalog collections, and gain leverage through television, movie, video game synch licensing and merchandising among other copyright opportunities. Still, this deal by Universal is the latest and most high-profile of the year. Dylan had long been determined to hold on to the rights and market his own music, personally working on licensing deals to put his songs into commercials. Now, Dylan will no longer have veto power over how his songs will be used, and Universal will be making the royalties when other artists cover his songs.
Jody Gerson, the chief executive of Universal’s publishing division, commented to say, “To represent the body of work of one of the greatest songwriters of all time — whose cultural importance can’t be overstated — is both a privilege and a responsibility.”
