American singer-songwriter Katy Perry has sold her music catalogue to Litmus Music, a subsidiary of The Carlyle Group, for a record $225 million. The deal includes her stake in her master recordings and publishing rights for all five of her studio albums released through Capitol Records, from 2008's One of the Boys to 2020's Smile. That includes multi-platinum hits like Firework, Teenage Dream, Hot 'n' Cold, California Gurls, and I Kissed a Girl.
This is the biggest catalogue deal for a single artist in 2023. In recent years, Justin Bieber, Bruce Springsteen, and Bob Dylan have all sold their music catalogues for hundreds of millions of dollars.
According to the BBC, Justin Bieber was the previous title holder after offloading his stake in his back catalogue to the UK-based Hipgnosis Songs Capital in January for $200 million.
Litmus now owns Perry's stake in the master recordings and publishing for the records, meaning it will collect any future royalties the music earns. Two of her songs, Dark Horse and Roar, have more than one billion streams on Spotify. Roar is also one of the most-watched videos of all time on YouTube, with 3.8 billion plays.
A major star in the 2010s, Perry has slowed her work rate down in recent years, concentrating on her Las Vegas residency and raising a family with her partner, the actor Orlando Bloom, the new portal reported.
In a new release, Dan McCarroll, who previously held the position of president at Capitol Records and is also one of the co-founders of Litmus, stated that "Katy Perry is a creative visionary who has made a major impact across music, TV, film, and philanthropy. I'm so honoured to be partnering with her again and to help Litmus manage her incredible repertoire."
