While Katy Perry’s music is rarely my favorite, I acknowledge that the woman has some huge hits. Her catalog is extensive and well-known. She performed at the Super Bowl Half-Time show and she had to leave out several of her hits because there were just too many. I’m sure her masters are worth a fortune. So why does it sound like she sold them for much too small a figure? Katy is the latest in a long line of musical artists to sell their masters and catalog to a private-equity firm. The price? $225 million. As I said, it sounds way too low.
Litmus Music, a catalog rights company backed by private-equity giant Carlyle Group LP, said on Monday (Sept. 18) it acquired the rights to Katy Perry’s five studio albums released for Capitol Records, including her Grammy-nominated Teenage Dream.
According to sources, Litmus paid $225 million for Perry’s stake in the master recording royalties and music publishing rights to her five albums released between 2008 and 2020 — One of the Boys, Teenage Dream, PRISM, Witness and Smile. Litmus declined to comment on the deal terms.
Perry’s catalog sale, finalized earlier this year, follows other 2023 music rights deals like Justin Bieber’s $200-million sale to Hipgnosis Songs Capital, demonstrating that household name artists can still command top dollar even as high interest rates moderate investors’ appetites for song rights.
From her breakout single “I Kissed A Girl” in July 2008 to the five chart-topping songs from 2010’s Teenage Dream, Perry has notched a total of nine No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100. During a musical era that saw major hits from other female pop stars like Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, and Adele, Perry remains the first woman and only second artist ever (after Michael Jackson) to send five songs from the same album to the summit of the Hot 100. Those songs are “California Gurls,” “Firework,” “E.T.,” “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” and “Teenage Dream.”
Billboard also mentioned her Vegas residency, which was pretty lucrative for her – $168 million for about four months. Plus, she’s done so many huge tours over the years, although she hasn’t toured since 2018 and now she’s a mom. Oh, and she’s getting $25 million a year for American Idol? My point is that Katy isn’t poor, far from it. We’ve never heard stories about Katy drowning in debt or spending crazy money. She just sold her catalog for no real reason, I guess because they made her an offer. Did her manager not tell her that the bid sounds pretty low?
Maybe Katy decided to pack up her career after the mess at the coronation? I still can’t get over the absolute desperation of Charles and Camilla.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- WINDSOR, ENGLAND – MAY 07: Katy Perry performs on stage during the Coronation Concert on May 07, 2023 in Windsor, England. The Windsor Castle Concert is part of the celebrations of the Coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the other Commonwealth realms that took place at Westminster Abbey yesterday.,Image: 774491736, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- WINDSOR, ENGLAND – MAY 07: Katy Perry performs on stage during the Coronation Concert on May 07, 2023 in Windsor, England. The Windsor Castle Concert is part of the celebrations of the Coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the other Commonwealth realms that took place at Westminster Abbey yesterday.,Image: 774491743, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- WINDSOR, ENGLAND – MAY 07: Katy Perry performs on stage during the Coronation Concert on May 07, 2023 in Windsor, England. The Windsor Castle Concert is part of the celebrations of the Coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the other Commonwealth realms that took place at Westminster Abbey yesterday.,Image: 774491779, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- WINDSOR, ENGLAND – MAY 07: Katy Perry performs on stage during the Coronation Concert on May 07, 2023 in Windsor, England. The Windsor Castle Concert is part of the celebrations of the Coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the other Commonwealth realms that took place at Westminster Abbey yesterday.,Image: 774491861, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- Katy Perry performing at the Coronation Concert held in the grounds of Windsor Castle, Berkshire, to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.,Image: 774498547, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Yui Mok / Avalon
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- Katy Perry performs during a concert at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, Sunday, May 7, 2023, celebrating the coronation of King Charles III. It’s one of several events over a three-day weekend of celebrations.,Image: 774502451, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: POOL PHOTO, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kin Cheung / Avalon
I think 225 million sounds about for Katy Perry’s music – maybe a bit too high actually. Good for her.
Especially since she’s not a solo songwriter (“Roar” has five credited songwriters and three producers credited) like some other artists who’ve recently cashed in. In that context the total seems healthy
I agree. She has some hits, but does she have the staying power? She’s kind of pivoted to more TV etc. Is she really all over the radio still? I think this is a good move for her.
I don’t know, this all sounds like play money to me at this point. 225 million is a hell of a lot of money. She’s set for life and then some (not like she wasn’t before.)
I wonder how much streaming plays into these artists selling their catalogs like this. Like if they aren’t sure what the future of music looks like with streaming and album sales (I can’t tell you the last time I bought an album bc I listen to everything through Apple Music) so they figure they’ll just get paid now and let someone else worry about streaming residuals etc.
I was thinking the same thing. Similar to Netflix and viewership streaming, these artists only get a fraction of a penny every time their songs are played on a streaming service. The licensing of songs pays more but is less common. It certainly adds up, but $225 million in your pocket now can go a long way towards diversifying investments that build generational wealth. And she still gets to tour, have the Vegas residency, make new albums, and do other paid projects. So while it seems a little low, I think she shifted the risk to the private equity firm.
Yes! That’s a whole lot of money to build your wealth! And now she has the time to do so. Plus, from what I understand, pop as a genre is waning in popularity, which would include her music. She would have to possibly wait a while for the pendulum of popular taste to move back into her direction. Good for her—take the money and run.
@HelloDolly! I didn’t know that pop music is waning in popularity. That is super interesting. I think I read on this site that hip hop is the most popular genre now.
After the hoopla died down I read Justin Bieber sold “a percent” of his catalogue. Which makes way more sense. That has to be what’s going on her. Cause that number is way to low. Katy perry songs have staying power. If I was her kid I would be livid if she actually sold the whole thing foe that price.
Just an aside but I notice the scooter Braun camp pulls these stunts a lot. Justin is used as “the first” and then you get the real deal down the line. It’s done to get other artist on board.
Personally, I don’t think she’s that great of an artist, but good on her.
That price is enough to keep her comfortable for the rest of her life and it’s not clear whether the future would garner more offers. I think she took the money and ran.
This. There’s YouTube videos about how bad her last album was and without cultural appropriation she didn’t seem to know what to do or wear on stage anymore. She literally started a show coming out of. A huge toilet. I think she’s spiraling music wise and sold because of that
I don’t get these people that sell their catalogues. If I had one, I’d hold onto it. Look at what happened with the Beatles catalogue. Like you said, she’s not hurting for money.
If I recall correctly, the Beatles catalog got purchased by Michael Jackson. He outbid Paul McCartney. It ended their friendship.
I actually think that is the problem — she is not the Beatles, and she knows it. Her catalog will get less valuable over time, not more. Good for her. That’s sounds high to me.
If this is before tax and a hundred other people get their cut then it seems low.
I think Bruce Springsteen sold his masters for $500 mil, so maybe $225 for Katy is correct? I don’t know, I’m not in the music business.
Isn’t this for her portion of the masters? So… from my understanding she is credited as a co-writer on some of her music but it’s very possible that a large chunk of the publishing rights are owned by the other writers (Max Martin, etc) on her music. So it is a good payout for her. If she was the primary writer on most of her songs I’d think it would be higher, but those folks will still be making money for air play, licensing, etc.
You are correct Juju.
And I agree this figure is actually a good amount.
It’s still $225 million more than I will ever see.
The key words are that the firm bought “Perry’s stake”— its very likely she did not own 100% of her catalog.
so companies are buying these catalogs so they can use it in AI-related media without getting the rights or paying the artists each time their songs are used, right?
Didn’t one of these big companies go bust recently? Or have financial difficulties? So they are maybe not the money spinners they were
That actually seems like a reasonable figure to me. Yes she’s had many hits, but she’s not T. Swift or Beyoncé. I thought Taylor’s catalog (which I would argue is worth more than Perry’s) sold as part of a $600 million deal, meaning her catalog is worth less than that because it was part of a package. Maybe I’m misremembering that number.
Good for her, but I don’t think her music is worth that much.
Same here, that seems very high to me, but that may be because I don’t really like her stuff.
Music catalog value isn’t based on opinion. It’s based on numbers. Katy’s music is highly profitable,highly recognizable, and frequently used. She’s sold 135 million in just her singles alone. She is one of the highest selling artists of all time. Literally. Her catalog was definitely worth more than what she got
“Music catalog value isn’t based on opinion. It’s based on numbers. … Her catalog was definitely worth more than what she got.”
As you said, value isn’t based on opinion. If someone will only pay $10 for something you’re selling, then what you’re selling is worth $10 — that’s the definition of market value. So Katy’s catalog is worth $225 million, no matter what you, she, or her mom might believe. If the market believed it was worth more, the buyer would’ve spent more.
she did have a lot of huge hits, but they weren’t off her last two albums. I didn’t even realize she’d released another album after witness.
I’d say they overpaid for lyrics like “Do you ever feel like a plastic bag?”
The thing about Katie’s music is that Fireworks alone is worth all of that. Plus Roar, I kissed a Girl, ..maybe two more, we’ll be hearing for decades to come as the songs of that year/decade. Fireworks is going to be around for EVER and I think I kissed a girl and Roar too. They are very commercial, can be rewritten to fit whatever product, can be used for a plethora of inspirational moments, etc. Someone compared it to Girls Just wanna have fun or Like a Virgin, and that’s exactly it. These songs will not go away. So that alone is worth the money IMO, in fact, if not more.
Im more curious to know why she chose to sell now.