Bob Dylan Sells Entire Songwriting Catalog -- Update
December 07 2020 - 7:01PM
Dow Jones News
By Anne Steele
Bob Dylan is tangled up in green.
The 79-year-old legendary pioneer of modern rock music, and the
only songwriter to win a Nobel Prize for Literature, has sold his
entire publishing catalog -- more than 600 copyrights spanning 60
years -- to Universal Music Publishing Group, according to the
company.
While terms of the deal weren't disclosed, the catalog is likely
worth hundreds of millions of dollars -- rivaled in value and
influence only by the Beatles.
The move helps Mr. Dylan, who has long controlled most of his
songwriting copyrights, to cement his musical legacy and set up his
estate by cashing in on his life's work.
His decision to cede control follows a lifetime spent shaping
his image by touring and by offering fans access to archives of
unreleased music and details about his life in numerous documentary
films. Yet, his choice also hews closely to his more liberal
approach to the use of his songs and lyrics by other artists and in
media.
"This sale represents what is likely the largest single writer
deal in the history of popular music," said Bill Werde, director of
Syracuse University's Bandier music-industry program. "There
remains such demand to be associated with Dylan."
His timing is fortunate. Over the past five years, owning and
selling the rights to music has become more valuable as revenue
from music streaming on services such as Spotify Technology SA and
Apple Inc.'s Apple Music has grown. Songwriter catalogs have been
commanding sale prices that amount to 10 to 20 times their annual
royalties, compared with eight to 13 times in earlier years,
according to people involved in the deals. Publishers and other
catalog investors see the value of music continuing to increase
over time.
"By bringing to UMG the vast and brilliant Dylan songwriting
catalog, in an instant, we have forever transformed the legacy of
this company," said Lucian Grainge, chief executive of Vivendi SA's
Universal Music Group, parent of the publisher, in an email to
employees Monday.
A representative for Mr. Dylan declined to comment.
Tapping into artist catalogs has also become a bigger focus
during the Covid-19 pandemic, as Mr. Dylan and other musicians have
been unable to go on tour, cutting off their most lucrative source
of cash during normal times. The rights sales can also mean older
artists don't burden heirs with onerous tax payments.
In one recent deal, Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks sold a majority
stake in her publishing catalog, which valued it at $100 million,
according to people familiar with the transaction.
For Mr. Dylan, the deal means he will no longer benefit
financially from the use of the songs in his catalog going forward.
Music publishers deal with compositions -- lyrics and melody --
that underlie the sound recordings controlled by record labels.
Universal Music Publishing Group will act as a steward of Mr.
Dylan's music and collect when "Blowin in the Wind" or "Tangled Up
in Blue" is streamed, played on the radio, used in an advertisement
or featured in a film or TV show. Publishers often consult artists
on how to exploit their music. Mr. Dylan's deal doesn't include any
future songs he may write.
Representing Mr. Dylan's work "is both a privilege and a
responsibility, " said Universal Music Publishing Group chief Jody
Gerson.
Mr. Dylan's music has already been used hundreds of times in
various ways, setting him apart from other artists who are more
protective of their copyrights. Dozens of other musicians have
covered his songs, including Jimi Hendrix, Guns N' Roses and Adele.
Martin Scorsese directed a 3 1/2 -hour film, released in 2005,
about Mr. Dylan's early years titled "No Direction Home: Bob
Dylan." His music has been featured in Super Bowl advertisements,
including last year's Budweiser spot, and a Victoria's Secret TV ad
in 2004, to the song "Angels in Venice."
Mr. Dylan has also simplified his financial and creative legacy.
In the case of Prince, who died without a plan for his music
catalog, a regional bank ended up in charge of making the call on
how his work was used.
Michael Jackson at one point refused to sell a stake in his
music publishing catalog even when confronted with financial
disaster.
In selling his copyrights, Mr. Dylan creates more tax certainty
and potential benefits for himself and his heirs. He likely will
pay a one-time capital-gains tax of 23.8% in addition to state
taxes, as opposed to paying 37% plus state tax on the annual income
his catalog generates. Doing the sale now means he pays the
capital-gains tax in accordance with today's rates and rules rather
than facing the potential higher rates and tighter restrictions
that Democrats have proposed on both capital gains and ordinary
income. For his estate, he can plan tax strategies on his remaining
assets without his heirs and the government engaging in a lengthy
fight over the value of the copyrighted assets after his death
Born Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth, Minn., in 1941, Mr. Dylan
broke into New York's Greenwich Village folk scene in the early
1960s. He later transformed the genre by introducing electric
guitar. Mr. Dylan has sold more than 125 million records
globally.
Write to Anne Steele at Anne.Steele@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 07, 2020 18:46 ET (23:46 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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