Oct 01, 2026 6:03pm IST
From Michael Jackson to Queen, Music’s Biggest Catalog Deals
Sia sold off half of her music catalog for $165 million. This concerns the songs she has worked on before her marriage to Dan Bernad, with whom she is now undergoing a divorce. According to TMZ, the distribution makes $164 million for Sia and $1 million for Bernad. This deal includes her popular songs like "Chandelier," "Titanium" and "Cheap Thrills".
When one thinks of the most disputed and widely publicized music deals in recent history, Taylor Swift leads the talk. The conflict between her and Scooter Braun, who sold off her masters that were under Big Machine Records, led to the production of four Taylor’s version albums out of the six affected records, “Taylor Swift,” “Fearless,” “Speak Now,” “Red,” “1989,” and “Reputation.” Amid expectations that she'd re-record her debut album and the 2017 release, her buying back the masters from Shamrock Capital for roughly $360 million made big headlines.
Big catalog deals are not a new happening in the music industry, with superstars’ hits going for millions even posthumously.
Queen
Sony Music Group (hereafter referred to as Sony) made a deal of a whopping £1 billion (approximately $1.27 billion) in June 2024, acquiring the band’s recorded music catalogue and additional rights. It is the largest known catalog purchase for a single artist. Apart from the recorded music, publishing rights, name, likeness, and remaining musician royalties, including those associated with Bohemian Rhapsody, are part of it. Live performances by founding members Brian May and Roger Taylor are retained alongside Disney's North American rights and Universal Music’s international distribution rights.
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Michael Jackson
Sony acquired a 50% stake in Jackson’s publishing and recorded masters catalog for about $600 million in 2024. This makes the total implied value of his entire music collection around $1.2 billion, again making it among the highest transactions. The remaining half is retained by Jackson's estate. The only bits excluded from this deal are the revenues and royalties from the MJ Broadway musical and stage productions.
Bruce Springsteen
The American singer-songwriter sold off his entire recorded-music and songwriting catalog to Sony for around $500 million in December 2021, with some estimates hinting at a $600 million deal. Some of his most well-known hits like "Born to Run," "Born in the U.S.A.," and "Dancing in the Dark" are a part of the sale including 20 studio albums, live recordings, boxed sets, and over 300 songs.
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Pink Floyd
In October 2024, the rock band sold their recorded music catalog, name, and likeness rights to Sony for $400 million. Rights for audiovisual spin-offs were also a part of the deal. Meanwhile, individual song copyrights and lyrics are excluded.
Bob Dylan
Dylan’s music catalog was sold out across two big deals to Universal Music Publishing Group and Sony Music Entertainment for an estimated combined total between $400 million and $500 million. The UMPG transaction covers 600 of his songwriting copyrights, including revenue from streaming, radio airplay, film and TV licensing, and cover versions. Meanwhile, the Sony deal includes his masters from the past as well as any upcoming releases.
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