By the end of 2020, the 80-year-old iconic artist had already sold the copyright to his musical compositions — other than recording rights, which govern reproduction and distribution — to Universal, in a deal estimated at more than $300 millions of dollars.
Sony said it signed the deal in July 2021, marking the culmination of a six-decade relationship between the artist and the company.
The author of iconic songs like “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Tangled Up in Blue” signed his first deal with Sony-owned Columbia Records in 1961, releasing his first album that same year.
Noting Dylan’s “peerless genius,” Rob Stringer, chairman of Sony Music Group, underscored the “special relationship” Columbia Re/cords has had with the American artist since the beginning of his career.
“We are extremely proud to continue to grow and develop our 60-year relationship” with the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature, he said.
For Dylan, the long relationship with Columbia Records and Rob Stringer “has only been good for me for many, many years and for the good handful of records” he has released on his label. “I’m glad that all my recordings can stay where they belong,” he added.
Sony announced that it plans to collaborate with Dylan on “a series of future reissues of the Bootleg Series,” a project that began in 1991 and has released previously unreleased live and studio material.
The terms of the deal also allow Sony to pursue “other projects” with Dylan.
In 2020, Bob Dylan released his 39th studio album, “Rough and Rowdy Ways”, to critical acclaim. At 80, he continues to give concerts. On Monday he announced a series of new dates in the southern United States, part of a world tour that will conclude in 2024.
Dylan’s deal with Sony is different from the one he signed with Universal. Owners of recording rights can decide to make future releases, while copyright holders receive royalties for their radio and streaming plays, album sales, and use of songs in advertising and in movies.
The prolific composer’s songs have been performed by other artists, making his catalog of compositions particularly valuable.
The agreement with Universal was one of the most relevant that gave way to a series of catalog transactions of music last year, in a market increasingly interested in this type of asset.
Source From: Ambito
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