Bob Dylan sells catalogue to Universal in hot songs market

Universal's publishing arm has bought more than 600 of Dylan's songs including Like a Rolling Stone and Blowin' in the Wind in what is likely to be the biggest acquisition of an artist's song catalogue. The deal is reported to have cost "nine figures", shining a light on the big money song rights are worth in the streaming era.

“It’s no secret that that the art of songwriting is the fundamental key to all great music,” Lucian Grainge, Universal Music's chief executive said. “Nor is it a secret that Bob is one of the very greatest practitioners of that art.”

Dylan, 79 is reported to have negotiated the sale himself over several years. It is the most high-profile deal in a year when vintage and current artists have turned future royalties into immediate cash by selling the rights to companies.

Hipgnosis Songs Fund, a FTSE 250 company, has spent about $670m snapping up songs by Blondie, Barry Manilow, the Pretenders and others to offer investors income from future royalties from streaming via services such as Spotify as well as use in adverts, film soundtracks and other media.

The market has been revolutionised by the growth of streaming, which means listeners can click on almost any song without paying for a CD or record. Daryl Hall and John Oates recently notched up more than 1bn streams for their 1980 song You Make My Dreams.

Hipgnosis said on 4 December it was in talks to spend another £1bn on songs and was considering raising more money from investors. The company's investors are betting that hits such as Blondie's Heart of Glass and Rick James's Super Freak will have perennial appeal, providing a reliable income stream for decades.

Investing in and monetising song rights is long-established. Paul McCartney started buying music rights in the early 1970s, acquiring the Buddy Holly catalogue as well as the rights to the musical Grease and Annie and thousands of other songs.

McCartney lost out on the chance to buy his own Beatles compositions in the 1980s to Michael Jackson, who took McCartney's advice to invest in songs. Jackson sold the rights to Sony to repay debts and Sony reached a confidential agreement with McCartney in 2017.

David Bowie blazed a trail for monetising song income in the 1990s when he sold "Bowie bonds" secured on his royalties taht. paid an annual return for 10 years.