By Sabrina Lynch
- Primary Wave music publishing is taking a 50% stake in the Notorious B.I.G’s estate valuing it at $200M
- 73% of the U.S. music market is dominated by catalog records instead of new releases
The estate of the Notorious B.I.G has mo’ money, no problems thanks to its recent partnership with Primary Wave Music. The music publisher which also own the rights for Bob Marley and Luther Vandross, will be taking a 50% interest in the estate, valued at $200 million. When the Brooklyn-proud rapper passed, his mother Voletta Wallace took control of the estate’s management alongside Bystorm Entertainment’s Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts, taking it from $10 million to an astonishingly reported $160 million nearly 30 years after his death.
Why This Matters: The demand for music continues to grow, with streaming revenues exceeding $20 billion for the first time ever last year. Black music, as always, continues to be the go-to route for publishing companies looking to cash in on the cash flow. Eve recently sold the rights to her back catalog to Iconoclast in a comfortable eight-figure deal, whilst Dr. Dre turned to Universal Music Group and Shamrock Holdings for a $200 million stack to purchase his music assets. Even Michael Jackson continues to break records after his passing with Sony Music buying a 50% in his back catalog for $1.2 billion, making it the biggest deal to date in the music catalog market.
The catalogs sales seem to be a hot topic as 73% of the U.S. music market is currently dominated by catalog records instead of new releases. But this doesn’t mean that new artists aren’t making bank, there are other lucrative revenue streams at their disposal. This just means that catalog sales are commanding a larger share and stakeholders are watching closely on who and what the next strategic investment will be.
What’s Next: Music artists are understanding the financial power of their songs, especially when you consider the average multiple of private music publishing catalogs increased to 17.2 times net publisher’s share in 2023. With the value of the global music rights market estimated at $45.5 billion, more artists are sure to use this musical turn to their advantage.
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