Mick Fleetwood sells recorded music rights to BMG

Fleetwood Mac co-founder and drummer Mick Fleetwood sells his entire catalog of recorded music to BMG, the company said Rolling stone. BMG will receive the musician’s royalty share in a vaunted 300-song catalog that includes titles like “The Chain,” “Go Your Own Way” and “Dreams,” the latter of which saw a resurgence in teens thanks to a mega-popular TikTok video.

BMG declined to say how much the company paid for the deal, but said it was the largest acquisition BMG has made in two years.

Fleetwood, with this sale, becomes the third Fleetwood Mac member to sell catalog rights to a third party investor or manager – in the footsteps of Stevie Nicks, who sold his publishing rights to Primary Wave Music in December, and former member Lindsey Buckingham, who sold his publishing rights to the Hipgnosis Songs Fund last week. Fleetwood Mac is one of the best-selling groups of all time, having sold 54 million certified units, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Rumors, the band’s 1977 album, has sold over 20 million certified units and is ranked seventh in Rolling stones List of the 500 best albums of all time. “Dreams,” a single from this album, recently climbed the music charts four decades after its release, thanks to the virality fueled by TikTok.

Several dozen other artists and songwriters have sold their rights in recent months, including Bob Dylan and Neil Young. For music creators, the incentive is a large lump sum of cash paid in advance; for buyers, ownership of the rights to these stars will ideally translate into lucrative income streams decades into the future.

A key differentiator in the sale of Fleetwood from many other acquisitions in recent months is that, rather than selling the publishing rights, the drummer sells his recorded music rights. Publication rights concern writing and composition, while the registered rights relate to the actual recorded performance of the music. This means that publishing rights typically generate more revenue in the sync licensing arena (i.e. when a song is licensed for use in a movie, television, commercial, or video game) and recorded music rights are more directly related to streaming, downloads and the album. Sales.

Justus Haerder, Executive Vice President of Group Strategy and Mergers and Acquisitions at BMG, recounts Rolling stone this BMG will enter into several other recorded music interest contracts this year.

Haerder says BMG expects publishing revenue, as a whole, to fall this year due to the halt in live performance from the Covid-19 pandemic. (Whenever music is performed live, its songwriters receive a share of royalties.) Meanwhile, the company expects recorded music rights to become more lucrative – as music streaming continues. to grow across the world and more listeners translate into more royalties – so BMG is more interested in acquiring rights to recorded music than in publishing rights, says Haerder.

“A lot of people are getting into music IP at the back of the streaming world,” says Haerder. “When you really look at it, the registered rights are the ones that develop almost exclusively through streaming. If the edition has also benefited, it is more multifaceted. This is why the current recording, in our opinion, is as attractive if not more attractive than an IP class in the music space.

“We firmly believe that these far-reaching and generation-defining rights and catalogs have lasting increasing value for generations to come.”

He adds: “We think there may have been a bit too much emphasis on publishing and that there are areas outside of publishing – and not just registered – where we think it is. are also interesting acquisitions. ”

BMG’s deal with Fleetwood began to take shape in November, shortly after “Dreams” came out of the TikTok trend. This viral success is explicitly factored into the deal, Haerder says.

Without giving specific names, Haerder says BMG is also reviewing high-profile registered catalogs and hopes to close more deals throughout 2021.

“It’s a very competitive space, it was a competitive process, but we’re definitely looking to do more,” he says. “We strongly believe that these far-reaching and generational defining rights and catalogs have lasting increasing value for generations to come, and we want to work with these artists and add value to their work.”

In a statement, Fleetwood called the deal a “wonderfully inspiring marriage between two creative partners who understand all aspects” of the music industry. “Above all, BMG understands art and puts the artist first,” he said. “If this partnership is any indication of my past, and now future, working relationship with BMG, it’s because they really ‘get it’.”