Bruce Springsteen sells his masters and publishing rights for $500million

Bruce Springsteen has sold his masters and publishing rights to Sony Music in a combined deal worth around $500million (£377m), it has been reported.

According to Billboard, the sale will give the company ownership of the musician’s entire back catalogue which includes 20 studio albums, 300 songs, 7 EPs, 23 live records and more.

• READ MORE: Every single Bruce Springsteen album ranked in order of greatness

Springsteen has released his albums through Sony Music Entertainment imprint Columbia Records for his entire career, beginning with his 1973 debut ‘Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.’. His latest full-length, ‘Letter To You’, came out in October 2020.

It was reported last month that The Boss was finalising talks to sell his publishing rights to Sony Music. At the time, it was said that he’d set his sights on upwards of $350million (£256.5million) for both the publishing and recorded masters.

Springsteen was also looking to sell his publishing catalogue, which was previously owned by Universal Music Publishing Group.

The singer-songwriter acquired ownership of his music in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Springsteen has become the latest heritage act to sell off their extensive catalogue in the past year or so, following in the footsteps of iconic musicians such as Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks and Neil Young.

Dylan sold his music to Universal Music Publishing Group for $300 million (£226 million) while Young made a deal with Hipgnosis Songs Fund, who purchased bought 50 per cent of the rights to his back catalogue for an estimated $150 million (£113 million).

Springsteen released 20 studio albums between 1973 and 2020, with Billboard estimating that he made $15million (£11m) in revenue last year. Additionally, he is said to have brought in $7.5million (£5.5m) per year from publishing.

In a five star review of Springsteen’s latest studio effort, NME wrote: “A powerful synthesis of past and present, ‘Letter To You’ shows us the strength that can be found in sorrow. The result is Springsteen’s finest album since 2002’s ‘The Rising’.”

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