Tina Turner sells rights to her music catalogue for a reported $50 million

The ‘queen of rock’n’roll’ sells rights to back catalogue to publisher BMG, in its biggest single artist deal ever.

Tina Turner sells rights to her music catalogue for a reported $50 million

Tina Turner has just sold the rights to her entire back catalogue, which spans over six decades, including hit songs such as What’s Love Got To Do With It,  Proud Mary, and The Best. She has sold her music to publishing company BMG, for the large sum of £50 million.

The legendary singer has sold her artist’s and writer’s shares of her many recordings, as well as her name, image, and likeness; the deal is reportedly the largest that BMG has had with a single artist in the company’s history. Although the actual sum of money spent has not been disclosed, it is thought to amount to over $50 million.

Turner is now 81, and is the latest musician to sell the rights to their back catalogue in response to the growing value of evergreen hits in the era of streaming services like Spotify. She joins a myriad of iconic artists that have made deals with publishers, such as Bob Dylan, Aerosmith, David Guetta, Shakira and Neil Young.

The increase in popularity of streaming has meant that artists with already well-established hits can reap the rewards from the gold-rush; it has become an increasingly important component in cultivating the estates of iconic musicians. Turner will continue to release music as a recording artist under Warner Music’s books following the deal. 

In a statement, Tina Turner said: “Like any artist the protection of my life’s work, my musical inheritance, is something personal, I am confident that with BMG and Warner Music my work is in professional and reliable hands.”

BMG is part of the Bertelsmann media conglomerate and owns RTL, a pan-European broadcaster and Penguin Random House. They also have the rights to many prolific musician’s recordings, such as Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Kurt Cobain, Mick Fleetwood, David Bowie, and Iron Maiden.

Hartwig Masuch, chief executive of BMG stated: “Tina Turner’s musical journey has inspired literally hundreds of millions of people around the world and continues to reach new audiences. We are honoured to take on the job of managing Tina Turner’s musical and commercial interests.”

Header Image Credit: "Tina Turner 23117220003" by Heinrich Klaffs is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Author

Ash Edmonds

Ash Edmonds Kickstart

A graduate of Music Journalism from BIMM Brighton – where he now lives – Ash has been writing about everything creative for the past few years. An avid audiophile, he spends a lot of his time searching streaming platforms, record stores and live shows trying to find his next musical obsession.

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