Universal Music Group, don’t forget, spent $1.7 billion on music rights and advances in 2020, including the $300-million-plus acquisition of Bob Dylan’s song catalog.
Adding to this theory is the fact that WMG recently acquired a majority stake in a portfolio of songs by Bruno Mars for an undisclosed sum.
Some industry observers believe music like Guetta’s best-known hits was released 10 years ago, and continues to maintain a handsome level of streaming popularity.
Since then, Hipgnosis has pursued an active strategy to broaden its portfolio far beyond modern hits — see its acquisitions of 50% of Neil Young’s catalog and 100% of the Lindsey Buckingham song catalog this year for evidence.
However, it now appears that what WMG really acquired there was an exclusive license for Guetta’s recordings.
Announcing the Guetta deal today, Max Lousada, CEO, Warner Recorded Music, said: “It’s rare for an artist to not only define a genre, but transform it.
And even more excited that I have started to play all this new music live to my fans again and they are loving it.
We decided to continue our partnership with Warner because they have a knowledge of and passion for David’s music, with a global team that’s constantly working to place it in new contexts.
And Bart Cools, EVP, Global A&R and Marketing, Dance Music, Warner Recorded Music, said: “I’m deeply honoured that David has decided to renew our collaboration.