A 79-year-old artist who over the years has created 32 studio albums, 4 live albums and numerous compilations, and has sold over 250 million albums and singles, as part of a contract with the company Iconic Artists received an impressive £80 million, i.e. over PLN 400 million.
“This year marks the 60th anniversary of my start in the music industry. I feel that the time has come to take this step. I am happy to have found partners to whom I can entrust my musical legacy,” the rocker said in a statement.
“We are extremely excited to welcome one of the most famous singer-songwriters of our time to our family. It is an honor for us to support the continued success of legendary artists,” added the president Iconic Artists, Irving Azoff.
“The biggest names in the music industry are saying goodbye to their catalogues. And they become millions of dollars richer in the process. Why Sting, Bob Dylan, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Justin Timberlake or heirs David Bowie decide to get rid of property rights to artistic achievements? Why the sudden fashion for this type of transaction? Why can music be worth more than gold? read more about this topic in Mateusz Kamiński’s text.
Last June, Stewart caused quite a stir in the music industry by abruptly withdrawing from a deal he was about to enter into with a fund. Hipgnosis Songs Fund, with whom he negotiated for two years. “This catalog is my life’s work. After careful consideration, I have decided that this is not the right company to manage my song catalog, career or legacy,” the star said in a statement at the time.
The singer’s decision was astonishing because the above-mentioned company was entrusted with the rights to his works by such stars as Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake, David Guetta and Justin Bieber. The latter sold his music catalog to Hipgnosis last year for a staggering sum of $200 million.