Katy Perry sells music catalogue to Litmus Music for $225 million

Taken from www.independent.co.uk | Author: Tom Murray | Date: 19 September 2023

Katy Perry has become the latest star to sell off the rights to her music catalogue.

On Monday (18 September), The Carlyle Group investing firm announced that the “Firework” singer had sold the rights to her songs and albums released between 2008 and 2020 to Litmus Music for a reported $225m (£181m).

According to Deadline and Billboard, the deal includes Perry’s five albums released through Capitol Records – One of the Boys (2008), Teenage Dream (2010), Prism (2013), Witness (2017) and Smile (2020) – which feature 16 multi-platinum singles.

Litmus co-founder and CEO Hank Forsyth said: “Katy’s songs are an essential part of the global cultural fabric. We are so grateful to be working together again with such a trusted partner whose integrity shines in everything that she does.”

“We believe this is a testament to the team’s ability to partner with the world’s top artists. Katy’s iconic songs have not only achieved outstanding commercial success but have significantly influenced popular culture,” said Matt Settle, managing director at Carlyle.

Perry, 38, is among a growing number of artists to sell the master recordings of their back catalogue.

In January, Justin Bieber sold his share of his own music rights to Hipgnosis Songs Capital for a reported fee of $200m (£162m).

Back in January 2022, it was announced that Bob Dylan had sold the rights to his entire back catalogue to Sony, for an undisclosed amount. Reports suggest the deal was worth between £111m and £148m, with Sony also owning the rights to the “Blowin’ in the Wind” songwriter’s “multiple future new releases”.

Bruce Springsteen also sold his music to Sony in late 2021, in a mammoth deal worth a reported $500m (£376m).

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