Publishers are flipping the music industry upside down

Who would have thought major music artists would be selling their music catalogs for big money.  When I looked into this a little deeper it makes a lot of sense. Over the last year the music and entertainment industry shut down completely. Music artists experienced plummeting revenue in their music streaming as fans were forced to cut extracurricular events from their tight budgets as a result of the pandemic.

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Another major revenue stream that was eliminated because of the pandemic as all the tours, that were set up and budgeted to make millions, were gone. When tours are canceled the ripple effect for so many becomes a major hardship.

Other factors became more of a reason to sell their music catalog such as age and health, with the artist knowing they won't make that much money through the rest of their careers. Back in September of last year, Bob Dylan shocked the music world and sold his rights to his entire songwriting catalog to Universal Music Publishing for a staggering 300 million dollars plus. Dylan of course has a catalog that spans over 600 songs.

In November of last year Singer, songwriter Stevie Nicks sold 75% of her music catalog for close to 100 million dollars. Neil Young didn't want to give up all his catalog, so he sold half for an estimated 150 million dollars. Lindsey Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac, Paul Simon and music producer and writer Jimmy Iovine,Who has a massive music catalog all have sold to publishers.

Publishers are treating this like a kid surrounded by toys at Christmas. They're landing investors who are laying out huge money to music publishing houses to allow acquisitions. With the new stricter guidelines on the use of music it guarantees bigger money for those who own the rights.

It's very close to a win-win situation for both the artist and the publishers. Look for the owners of the music libraries  to be very stingy in sharing those favorite songs.Music business has changed I hope it doesn’t affect our listening pleasures