Bob Dylan sells songwriting list for reported M 300 million: NPR

Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan in 1965, when he was at the center of the opposite culture.

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Evening Standard / Getty Images

Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan in 1965, when he was at the center of the opposite culture.

Evening Standard / Getty Images

Nearly 60 years after writing counter-cultural classics such as “Blow in the Wind” and “Like a Rolling Stone”, Bob Dylan has sold his entire songwriting list – over 600 songs – in a contract to the Universal Music Publishing Group. Announced Monday morning Universal.

Agreement First reported Issued by The New York Times, Valued at more than 300 million million. A contract with Dylan could be the highest price ever paid for the songwriting rights of a musician or group. (Universal purchase price not released.)

The Universal Music Publishing Group, owned by the French media company Vivendi, has a lot of appeal in owning Dylan’s songwriting rights. The company raises money whenever another musician includes any of those songs, and allows the songs to be used in commercials and movies, and when the songs are streamed, they are commercially sold in formats such as CDs or broadcasts. .

Songwriting rights – that is, the melody of a song and the rights to the songs – are found and paid for separately from the recorded rights. According to Universal, Dylan’s songs have already been recorded over 6,000 times by other artists, including popular versions such as the cover of Jimi Hendrix. “With the Watchtower“And Guns My ‘Roses’ Edition”Knock on the door of heaven.“

The Universal Agreement includes all of the 79-year-old artist’s songs, extending his recordings to his early compositions His latest album, Rough and rowdy ways, Which was released in June. In total, Universal says Dylan has sold more than 125 million records worldwide.

Dylan is one of the most widely respected songwriters of all time, winning both a special quote Pulitzer Prize 2008 and a Nobel Prize In the literature in 2016.