The British singer has sold his entire catalog of songwriters, including his repertoire with The Police, to an arm of Universal Music, the latter announced on Thursday.
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It’s a global agreement “historical and complete” that the group Universal has just made: the acquisition of all of Sting’s solo works, as well as those produced when Sting was the singer-songwriter-composer of the group “The Police”.
The sale represents the latest of artists selling their rights to music industry giants. Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) did not reveal the financial terms of the agreement in its press release, but the sale would be around 250 million dollars, according to estimates by American media.
It’s with great excitement that we welcome Sting’s acclaimed song catalog to the UMPG family. ❤️
We are thrilled to work with Sting to further build his vast audience reach and strengthen the impact of his song catalog which includes everything from the Police to his solo work. pic.twitter.com/6drTSj9eqc
—Universal Music Publishing Group (@UMPG) February 10, 2022
It brings together the 70-year-old artist’s lyricist catalog with that of his recorded music, already controlled by Universal, according to the press release. Universal will now receive all income and royalties related to the works of the author of hits like Every Breath You Take and Roxane with The Police, or even Fields of Gold alone.
In a press release the singer said to himself “delighted” that UMPG now manages its catalog. “It is absolutely essential for me that all of my work takes up residence where it is esteemed and respected”, said the singer, quoted in the UMPG press release. Holding catalog rights – which allow you to earn royalties for each use of a song, whether it’s a download, a passage in a film or an advertisement – can prove to be very profitable on the long term.
The former bassist and leader of The Police adds his name to a growing list of rockstars who have sold all or part of their musical catalog via transactions with astronomical amounts but never officially confirmed. In 2021 the “Boss”, Bruce Springsteen, sold all of his music rights to Sony Music for a record amount estimated at almost half a billion dollars, while Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan did the same. with Universal Music for a windfall of some $300 million.