The gold rush for David Bowie’s music copyright
David Bowie’s estate is in talks to sell his songwriting catalogue for bids of around $200m.
The deal would span decades of albums including Let’s Dance and Heroes, and represents the more general trend of buying music rights, which has increased with the rise of music streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
Bob Dylan, for instance, sold his entire songwriting catalog to Universal Music Publishing Group for a reported $300m to $400m back in 2019.
It is reported that talks are at an advanced stage for Bowie’s music and a deal could be announced in the coming weeks.
KKR and Blackstone are key players in this sphere, paying billions of dollars for music rights, viewing them as credit-like assets.
Warner Music Group recently signed a long-term licensing deal with Bowie’s estate covering his recorded music catalogue, but it is currently unclear who will be buying Bowie’s catalogue.