Add John Legend to the list of stars who are cashing in by selling the rights to their catalogs of songs and recordings.
Bloomberg reports that according to a public filing, back in September, John sold both his copyrights to and his royalties from music he wrote from late 2004 through early last year. The deal includes his signature hit, “All of Me.”
BMG, who has worked with John since 2010, bought the rights, in partnership with the private equity firm KKR. How much money John is making from the sale wasn’t disclosed.
John is younger than most of the veteran rock acts who’ve made hundreds of millions of dollars lately by selling their catalogs: That list includes Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, ZZ Top and Stevie Nicks. That’s a good thing: As Bloomberg notes, the fact that he’s still a very public figure and continues to record and release music and tour should “help drive streaming revenue for the songs purchased by KKR and BMG.”
John’s most recent album, Bigger Love, was released in 2020.
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