Britney Spears sells rights to full music catalogue to Primary Wave
Britney Spears is the latest major artist to sell the rights to their catalogue to a publishing company.
According to the BBC, pop star Britney Spears has told the rights to her entire music catalogue for around $200m (£146m). The deal is said to have been done on the 30th of December last year, with the rights bought by independent publishing company Primary Wave.
You really should know the massive hits that Spears has now handed over the rights to, but if you’ve been living under a rock, these include pop bangers like “Baby One More Time”, “Oops!… I Did It Again”, and “Gimme More”.
Britney Spears certainly isn’t the first artist to sell the rights to their back catalogue, as a wave of music mega stars began inking deal with publishing companies over the last few years. Big names include Neil Young, who sold his rights to Hipgnosis, and Bruce Springsteen to Sony Music Publishing. Primary Wave has plenty of high-profile artists’ catalogues under its belt, including Prince, Whitney Houston, and Notorious B.I.G.
This decision from Spears isn’t much of a shock. The singer has been quiet on the music front for some time, and vowed never to return to the music industry back in 2024.
As is pretty standard with these situations, the precise details and price of the sale have not been confirmed or disclosed. The BBC stated that Spears’ representatives declined to comment on the situation, and Primary Wave did not immediately respond. Whether these details do become public knowledge down the line remains to be seen. Needless to say, it’s a hefty sum.
Primary Wave is a leading independent publisher, seeking to increase the value of the rights catalogue’s it acquires through avenues like clever marketing, advertising and sync licensing. Britney Spears is a significant acquisition for the company, since she is one of the industry’s biggest selling female artists and has a catalogue that includes 9 studio albums.