David Bowie's Entire Music Catalog Acquired by Warner Music Group for a Reported $250 Million

DAVID BOWIE
DAVID BOWIE
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Dave Benett/Getty David Bowie

David Bowie's music publishing catalog has been acquired in a massive deal with Warner Music Group, six years after the famed musician's death.

Warner Chappell has acquired the global music publishing rights to Bowie's entire catalog, including 26 studio albums and hits like "Space Oddity," "Life on Mars?" and "Modern Love," Warner Music Group (WMG) announced on Monday.

The deal also includes Bowie's posthumous album Toy, the two studio albums he recorded with his supergroup Tin Machine, and tracks released as singles from soundtracks and other projects. The five-time Grammy winner died of cancer in 2016 at age 69.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but CNN Business reported the purchase price to be about $250 million.

"We are truly gratified that David Bowie's body of music will now be in the capable hands of Warner Chappell Music Publishing. We are sure they will cherish it and take care of it with the greatest level of dignity," Allen Grubman said in a statement on behalf of the David Bowie Estate and RZO.

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The announcement comes four months after WMG and the Bowie estate came to an agreement that gave Warner Music the rights to the British star's recorded catalog from 1968 to 2016. With the new deal, they now also have the rights to his entire body of work as both a songwriter and recording artist.

"This isn't merely a catalog, but a living, breathing collection of timeless songs that are as powerful and resonant today as they were when they were first written," WCM co-chair and COO Carianne Marshall said in a statement.

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Added WCM co-chair and CEO Guy Moot in a statement: "All of us at Warner Chappell are immensely proud that the David Bowie estate has chosen us to be the caretakers of one of the most groundbreaking, influential, and enduring catalogs in music history. These are not only extraordinary songs, but milestones that have changed the course of modern music forever."

The acquisition is just the latest for Warner; in August, WMG announced a partnership with Madonna for her entire recorded music catalog, and in November, it announced a worldwide co-publishing deal with Cardi B.

Other stars, like Bruce Springsteen, have gone elsewhere; in December, Sony Music Group acquired the rocker's entire recorded music and songwriting catalogs for a reported purchase price of $500 million.