Sony already owns several major artists’ music — now, Bruce Springsteen is part of that group. According to Billboard, Springsteen sold his masters and publishing rights to Sony Music for $500 million. Consequence reports that the rock icon has been signed with Sony’s Columbia Records since he started his career, but he still had ownership of his earlier albums. Now, Sony has the rights to his entire catalog, from his 1973 Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. to his recent Letter To You, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard charts.
The “Born to Run” artist is expected to have an upcoming album set for release in 2022, which contains the single “Wasted Days” with John Mellencamp. Other legendary artists have recently sold their catalogs to Sony as well, such as Paul Simon’s work, giving the company rights to Simon & Garfunkel’s hits. Having the rights over such an extensive catalog has allowed the company to earn billions of dollars annually, with Sony Music ending their first quarter with $1.34 billion off of albums like the Kid LAROI’s, F*CK LOVE (Savage), Foo Fighters’ Medicine At Midnight, Doja Cat’s Hot Pink, Travis Scott’s ASTROWORLD, AC/DC’s POWER UP and Miley Cyrus’ Plastic Hearts.
And Sony isn’t the only one racking up revenues — BMG recently purchased Motley Crue’s catalog and Mick Fleetwood’s work. Since most artists have been unable to tour, selling their catalogs helps them obtain the lost profits.
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