Legendary Acquisition For KKR/BMG
• John Legend has joined the growing list of superstars who are cashing in on the boom market for music rights, selling a catalog dating back to his first album to an alliance of KKR & Co. and BMG.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Legend, whose legal name is John Stephens, sold both the copyrights as well as the rights to receive royalties from music he wrote from late 2004 through early last year, according to a regulatory filing. DL Music IP LP, an affiliate of KKR Credit Advisors (U.S.) LLC, and BMG Rights Management (U.S.) LLC each purchased a 50% stake in Legend’s catalog. The deal was struck last September, according to the filing, but not otherwise announced. Financial terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.
Amid rising demand from private equity firms such as KKR, artists such as Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks and Neil Young have struck lucrative deals for their work, capped last month by Bruce Springsteen‘s recent blockbuster sale of his entire recorded music and songwriting catalogs for a reported $500+ million. KKR and BMG said last year they’d partner to acquire catalogs, and in December they announced a deal for the music interests of ZZ Top.
As the Bloomberg story points out, the 43-year-old Legend is at a much earlier stage in his career than, say, Dylan or Springsteen, “and thus, his future releases and continued presence in public should help drive streaming revenue from the songs purchased by KKR and BMG.”
“It’s a great time to be a seller because the valuations are so high,” said Eli Ball, founder of Lyric Financial, a provider of financial services to the music community that’s owned by Utopia Music. “Legend is still at the top of his game, and he has even more platforms to exploit his music, which is good for him, KKR and BMG.”
