KKR has bough a majority stake in the music catalog of Ryan Tedder, the lead vocalist of pop outfit One Republic who has worked with a number of prominent artists such as Beyoncé, U2, Paul McCartney, Adele, Stevie Wonder and Lady Gaga. Their new deal covers over 500 songs, including all One Republic songs and tracks co-written with all of the aforementioned artists.

“Centered around an ‘artist-first’ approach and in collaboration with Tedder, KKR plans to leverage the firm’s vast network, resources and global scale as well as its deep experience successfully investing in market-leading music, digital, media and content businesses to expand upon the success and reach of Tedder and OneRepublic’s music,” the company wrote in a statement to Music Business Worldwide.

As of press time it is unknown how much the catalog was purchased for, but reports indicate that Tedder’s catalog was worth around $200 million. Some of the major non-One Republic hits included in this sale involve Beyonce’s “Halo” and Adele’s “Rumour Has It.” This deal did not contain his entire catalog however, as he sold 170 tracks to Downtown in 2016.

A number of high profile artists have been selling off their catalogs in recent months. The most high-profile sale was Bob Dylan’s massive deal with Universal Music, who purchased his catalog for over $300 million. Another high-profile sale came from The Killers, who sold off their pre-2020 catalog to Eldridge for an undisclosed amount. Another firm, Hipgnosis, invested in the publishing and songwriting catalog rights for Neil Young, Lindsey Buckingham and Jimmy Iovine within the last month. David Crosby of Crosby, Stills & Nash recently stated that he sold his catalog as well, but claimed it was due out of necessity.

Photo Credit: Boston Lynn Schulz