Bob Dylan has sold the publishing rights to his entire back catalog to Universal Music Group for a whopping $300 million.
In the deal, UMG acquired over 600 of Dylan’s songs dating back to 1962, which the legendary singer-songwriter controlled the copyrights to. It includes all of his songs through this year’s Rough and Rowdy Ways. The catalog of music includes Dylan’s biggest hits including “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Tangled Up In Blue,” “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Lay Lady Lay,” “The Times They Are a-Changin’” and like a Rolling Stone.”
Unlike other artists’ catalogs, Dylan wrote the songs’ lyrics himself and melodies himself, which means the song rights weren’t split among other writers and makes the catalog so valuable. Universal will also collect royalties whenever another artist covers any Dylan song moving forward as well. However, the deal will not include any songs that Dylan writes in the future.
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