Bob Dylan sold his entire back catalog of recorded music along with “the rights to multiple future new releases” to Sony Music Entertainment, the company said on Monday.
Sony did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
In late 2020, the artist had already sold his songwriting rights — separate from recording rights, which govern reproduction and distribution — to Universal, in a deal estimated to be worth more than US$300 million.
Photo: AFP
According to industry reports, including from Billboard and Variety, the latest Dylan deal was worth upward of US$200 million.
Sony said it closed the recording rights transaction in July last year, a tightening of Dylan’s six-decade relationship with the company.
Dylan was signed to Sony’s Columbia Records in 1961 and recorded his debut album the same year.
Hailing Dylan’s “unrivaled genius,” Sony Music Group chairman Rob Stringer said that “Columbia Records has had a special relationship with Bob Dylan from the beginning of his career, and we are tremendously proud and excited to be continuing to grow and evolve our ongoing 60-year partnership.”
Dylan also lauded the agreement in a statement.
“Columbia Records and Rob Stringer have been nothing but good to me for many, many years and a whole lot of records,” he said. “I’m glad that all my recordings can stay where they belong.”
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