Bob Dylan sells entire recording catalogue to Sony at $200 million

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Bob Dylan sold his entire back catalogue of recorded music along with “the rights to multiple future new releases” to Sony Music Entertainment, the company announced on Monday, the latest high-profile deal of the recent music rights purchasing rush, reports AFP.

Sony did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. In late 2020 the iconic American artist had already sold his songwriting rights – separate from recording rights, which govern reproduction and distribution – to Universal, in a deal estimated to be worth more than US$300 million.

According to industry reports including from Billboard and Variety, the latest Dylan deal was worth some US$200 million.

Sony said it closed the recording rights transaction in July 2021, a tightening of Dylan’s six-decade relationship with the company.

The author of folk rock classics including “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Tangled Up in Blue” was signed to Sony’s Columbia Records in 1961, and recorded his debut album the same year.