Bob Dylan Sells Entire Recorded Catalog To Sony Music For $150 Million

Bob Dylan is widely considered to be one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Throughout his 60-year career, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture. Bob has recently sold his entire catalogue of recorded music to Sony Music Entertainment.

According to Variety, Bob has also sold the rights to several future releases in a rumored transaction for between $150 million and $200 million. The agreement includes all Dylan recordings dating back to 1962, including his self-titled debut album, which will be 60 years old in March, as well as future releases and reissues in Dylan’s famed Bootleg Series.

Dylan signed to Columbia in October 1961. The chairman of Sony Music Group, Rob Stringer, had something to say about the artist.

“Columbia Records has had a special relationship with Bob Dylan from the beginning of his career and we are tremendously proud and excited to be continuing to grow and evolve our ongoing 60-year partnership. Bob is one of music’s greatest icons and an artist of unrivaled genius. The essential impact he and his recordings continue to have on popular culture is second to none and we’re thrilled he will now be a permanent member of the Sony Music family. We are excited to work with Bob and his team to find new ways to make his music available to his many fans today and to future generations.”

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Bob Dylan had something to say to Robert as well.

“Columbia Records and Rob Stringer have been nothing but good to me for many, many years and a whole lot of records. I’m glad that all my recordings can stay where they belong.”

Music Business Worldwide reported in January that catalogue music (defined as music older than 18 months) accounted for 73.1 % of the US music consumption market in the second half of 2021, and 69.8 percent of total album consumption.

The deal extends the 80-year-old songwriter’s concerted period of estate management. Dylan sold his song catalogue to Universal Music Publishing for a reported $400 million in 2020, and his archives were donated to the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Dylan is facing a lawsuit by an anonymous woman who claims Dylan sexually abused her when she was 12 years old. Dylan has formally denied the allegations, describing the lawsuit as a “brazen shakedown… false, malicious, reckless, and defamatory,” and the woman’s alleged timeline of events as a “chronological impossibility.” To get the latest updates, keep an eye on Thirsty.

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