The market for the publishing and recording rights of various music catalogs had reportedly been cooling, but now yet another artist has hopped on the bandwagon and made a huge payday by selling off their publishing rights and master recordings (this time in one package deal), and it's not the kind of longstanding legacy artist it usually is in these cases. Instead, it's Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, who has reportedly closed a deal in the eight figures for her catalog with Domain Capital, according to a recent Billboard story.
Azalea is obviously a lot earlier in her life and career than artists like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks, and many of the others who have been cashing in on their catalogs lately, so it's good for her that the deal seems to be only for her existing catalog, while allowing her to "fully own her masters and publishing on all forthcoming music" starting next year through her independently owned label Bad Dreams. The deal also includes "an additional trigger" for the artist to earn even more revenue on her older recordings in the future under certain financial conditions.
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Azalea herself confirmed the news on her official Twitter account, replying to a tweet from a fan expressing concern that the deal might leave her "like Taylor [Swift]," without control of her original master recordings:
"Taylor did not profit from that sale. I sold a portion of my catalog to who I wanted, for an amount that means I don't have to work another day in my life. I love y'all down but the masters conversation is a little beyond most of your understanding of business."
She continued in another post:
"I sold a portion of my catalog to who I wanted, for an amount that means I don't have to work another day in my life."
Azalea is reportedly working on a new album now, set to be released sometime next year.
