Photo Credit: Britney Spears performing in Toronto by hnkkk / CC by 2.0
Multiple major media outlets are reporting that Britney Spears has sold her entire catalog to Primary Wave for $200 million—though sources to DMN are pointing to some wild overstatements. So what’s really being bought and sold? Here’s what we know so far.
This week, multiple reports surfaced that Britney Spears sold her entire catalog to Primary Wave in a deal amounting to approximately $200 million — with major outlets using words like ‘entire’ repeatedly. However, sources to DMN are now clarifying that most of those reports are wildly overstated — though it does appear that valuable IP is being sold.
One glaring and inconvenient truth: Sony Music Entertainment (via its Jive and RCA label divisions) owns the Britney Spears master recordings dating back to the late 90s. Beyond that, it also appears that the Sony Music media megalith controls substantial publishing interests tied to the pop superstar (though that’s another complex story on its own).
To further complicate matters, neither Primary Wave nor other stakeholders (including Spears and associates) have commented on the alleged deal (and that really hurts, guys).
So then, what was actually bought and sold?
We still don’t have confirmation, but sources told Digital Music News that the deal actually involves Britney Spears’ writer’s share of the publishing catalog, as well as a possible payment against future income streams on the publishing and recorded music side—meaning whatever money she gets from Sony for the rights they own.
What this could mean is that in the case of many of her hits, Britney might not actually be getting the lion’s share of the money here, and hasn’t been for some time. However, on the publishing side, it would require a song-by-song analysis to know exactly which rights belong to whom.
It’s unclear what other assets might be involved in the sale. Primary Wave and its founder and CEO, Larry Mestel, remain extremely bullish on the “Name, Image, and Likeness” (NIL) rights arena — and Mestel is aggressively expanding this often-undervalued IP. Recent examples of that include the immersive Bob Marley experience in Las Vegas — whose premiere was covered by DMN — which illustrates how NIL rights can be utilized to create new experiences and productions for fans to spend money on.
Sources also indicate that no masters reversal process has taken place, meaning Spears hasn’t been trying to get back more of her rights—and she may not be eligible to do so yet, anyway.
Taking a step back, the reported $200 million price tag might seem lofty for partial rights. But given that Britney Spears is still considered one of the most culturally significant figures—not just musicians—of the 21st century, $200 million might be a small price to pay for some potentially valuable IP, especially with dealmakers like Primary Wave grabbing the wheel.
More as this develops.
