The latest megabucks publishing-catalogue acquisition is bucking the trend… by not involving Hipgnosis Songs Fund. Instead, it’s Concord Music Publishing that has swooped to buy the writer’s share and a co-publishing share of the band Imagine Dragon’s back catalogue.

MBW reported that a “highly competitive” battle to win the deal saw the price “definitely went above $100m” before Concord won out. The report noted that Universal Music Publishing Group will continue to administer the catalogue, while owning the other co-publishing stake.

Amid talk of a bubble in music-rights prices, Concord pointed out in its announcement of the deal that Imagine Dragons have sold 35m singles in the US and 20m albums worldwide over their career so far, including four tracks that have notched up more than 1bn streams apiece on Spotify.

Cover image: CC BY-SA 4.0

Related posts

Read More

Musicians name Earth as a co-writer to raise funds for climate activism

We knew that the modern music industry often involves more co-writers on songs, but here's one we didn't see coming: the Earth itself.

March 3, 2023

Read More

Lyric Capital raises $800m for music catalogue acquisitions

For all the predictions that the recent boom in music catalogue acquisitions must come to an end, there is still funding pouring in.

March 1, 2023

Read More

Lickd seals metaverse music deals with Empire and Kobalt

The licensing models for music in the metaverse – specifically virtual worlds and online games – are famously... nascent.

February 20, 2023