Linda Ronstadt has joined the ranks of artists selling their catalog, with Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group purchasing her music for an undisclosed sum. This marks Iconic Artists Group’s third large purchase in recent months after they acquired controlling stake in the Beach Boys’ catalog and purchased the publishing and recorded music rights from David Crosby.
According to Music Business Worldwide, Iconic will continue to partner with Ronstadt and will work “to market her catalog and ‘preserve her legacy in the digital era.'” As many artists have been selling their catalog throughout 2021 so far, outlets such as Rolling Stone have theorized that an inability to tour and a lack of revenue from streaming services have influenced some of these sales.
Some of the materials from Iconic Artists Group’s purchase include Ronstadt’s iconic covers of Roy Orbinson’s “Blue Bayou,” Eagles’ “Desperado” and The Everly Brothers’ “When Will I Be Loved.” Throughout her lengthy career, Rondstadt has released 24 studio albums and one live album, Live in Hollywood. Additionally, she has released 12 compilation albums. The singer also has several collaborations with Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton, the tree releasing a series titled Trio.
Numerous artists have been selling off their catalog over recent months, with Judas Priest’s Glenn Tipton selling his catalog to Reach Music, Bob Dylan selling off the entirety of his catalog to Universal Music, Shakira sending her catalog to Hipgnosis and BMG acquiring Mick Fleetwood‘s catalog. KT Tunstall, Ryan Tedder, Neil Young, Lindsey Buckingham, Jimmy Iovine and The Killers.
Many artists have also received large sums for their sales, with Dylan receiving $300 million from Universal Music in the purchase. Other artists, such as KT Tunstall, have opted to only sell portion of their catalog. Many of these purchases have been from the same companies, such as Primary Wave, Hipgnosis, Universal Music or Iconic Artists Group.
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