Litmus Music has acquired a collection of Katy Perry's music rights, and according to several reports, the transaction was valued at $225 million.
The deal, which was revealed on Monday, September 18, includes all five albums that Perry made for Capitol Records. This covers from One of the Boys released in 2008 to Smile in 2020. This also contains successful songs with multiple platinum awards, such as Firework, Teenage Dream, Hot' n' Cold, California Gurls, and I Kissed a Girl.
This asset is the year's single-artist deal that is the most expensive for a catalog purchase. The last holder of this title was Justin Bieber, who in January sold a portion of his back library to Hipgnosis Songs Capital of the UK for a total of £162 million (about $200 million), according to BBC.
Katy Perry's Music
Litmus now owns Perry's share in the master recordings as well as the publishing rights for the mentioned albums. This means that the company will be entitled to any future earnings that are generated by the music.
Dark Horse and Roar are two of her tracks that have had more than one billion streams combined on Spotify. With over 3.8 billion views, Roar is not only one of the most popular videos of all time on YouTube, but it is also one of the most viewed videos ever.
Perry, who was a prominent celebrity in the 2010s, has cut down her work pace in recent years in order to concentrate on her residency in Las Vegas and on developing a family with her husband, the actor Orlando Bloom.
Reportedly, she will be returning to her role as a judge on American Idol for the seventh season next year.
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Booming Market for Artists
Litmus Music is a company that was co-founded by Dan McCarroll, a former president of Warner Music and Capitol Records. The Carlyle Group provided funding in the amount of $500 million.
The press announcement states that the arrangement with Perry is based on McCaroll's "longstanding working relationship" with the singer from their time spent working at Capitol together. Perry and McCaroll both worked there.
Hank Forsyth, co-founder and CEO of Litmus, stated, "Katy's songs are an essential part of the global cultural fabric. We are so grateful to be working together again with such a trusted partner whose integrity shines in everything that she does," according to Variety.
The firm had previously bought the rights to Keith Urban's master recordings as well as a portfolio of songs written by Benny Blanco, who had previously collaborated with artists such as Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd, Rihanna, and Britney Spears.
Artists such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Shakira, Debbie Harry, and Justin Timberlake, amongst others, have turned down future royalties in exchange for upfront payments totaling nine figures in recent years as the market for the purchase of music rights has become a flourishing industry.
