Katy Perry sells her music catalog
Sep 19, 2023, 11:00 AM
GLENDALE, AZ - FEBRUARY 01: Singer Katy Perry performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show at University of Phoenix Stadium on February 1, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
(Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Katy Perry has sold the rights to her music catalog to Litmus Music. Multiple sources, including Billboard and Variety, reported the price tag on that sale was $225 million.
The sale includes Perry’s stakes in the master recording and publishing rights for her five albums. She released the albums between 2008 and 2020 under Capitol Records.
The albums feature Perry’s nine hits that hit number one on Billboard’s Hot 100. The list includes the multi-platinum hits “California Gurls” and “Firework.”
Perry was a major player in the music industry in the 2010s. She has since slowed her career down to focus on raising a family with her partner, actor Orlando Bloom, Variety reported. She is currently performing a residency in Las Vegas, and also does philanthropy work.
Katy Perry and Litmus Music
Litmus Music is a music rights management company. It was co-founded by Hank Forsyth, a former executive of Warner Chappell Music, and Dan McCarroll, who is the former president of Capitol Records, according to USA Today.
Previously, according to Rolling Stone, country singer Keith Urban sold his catalog to the company.
Catalog sales
It is common for superstar musical artists to sell their catalogs later in their careers. Royalties, or the payments artists and songwriters receive can fluctuate over time, depending on how popular a song is.
When an artist sells their catalog, they are exchanging their rights to royalty payments for a lump sum.
Selling their catalogs can guarantee the artist sees a certain amount of money. In an NPR podcast, Neda Ulaby, an arts and entertainment reporter for NPR said, “Many are senior citizens. They’re planning their estates.”
Not all of them are older, however. Younger artists such as Shakira and Calvin Harris have also sold parts of their back catalogs, said Ulaby. A back catalog is the collection of an artist’s previously released work.
Perry is just the latest artist to join the list.
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