Britney Spears on social media

US pop star Britney Spears has sold, in a single deal, a bundle of rights including copyrights for a large sum, local media reported on the 10th (local time).

The New York Times, citing sources, reported that Spears sold ‘catalog’ rights to the New York-based music and marketing company Primary Wave.

A catalog refers to a ‘bundle of musical assets’ accumulated over an artist (singer) or songwriter’s career. It is a term that treats the various rights to music, including copyrights and performance royalties, like a single portfolio. The NYT said the exact amount and specific terms of the deal were not confirmed.

Entertainment outlet TMZ reported that the size of the deal is similar to the 2023 sale of catalog rights by pop star Justin Bieber. Bieber transferred his catalog rights for $200 million (about 291.1 billion KRW).

In the US pop industry, there is a growing trend of selling off the entire bundle of rights to copyrights, as seen with Spears and Bieber. Rather than receiving royalties in installments like a pension, many prefer to take a large lump sum at once, a tendency reflected in this trend.

Others who have sold catalog rights include Bob Dylan, a ‘legend of folk’ and Nobel literature laureate; Bruce Springsteen, known as the ‘boss of rock’; actor and singer Justin Timberlake; and Shakira, the ‘queen of Latin pop’.

Spears has been a major star who dominated global pop from the late 1990s through the 2000s. She gained huge popularity with songs such as ‘Baby One More Time’ (Baby One More Time), ‘Oops!…I Did It Again’ (Oops!…I Did It Again), and ‘Toxic’ (Toxic). However, she became embroiled in controversies including frequent drug abuse, conflicts and lawsuits with her parents, and an in-flight disturbance, and her career declined from the late 2000s. Since the release of her 2016 studio album ‘Glory’ (Glory), she has hardly been active.