List of largest music deals

The following is a list of the largest music deals in history signed by artists, including recording contracts and multi-rights agreements with over $50 million, as well catalog acquisitions with a reported sum of over $150 million.^[a] Some figures might not be entirely accurate, as some multi-million-dollar contracts were reportedly misrepresented or exaggerated,^[1][2][3] and others were media estimations. Therefore, no rankings are given.

An early recorded five-figure deal in music history was reported by The Music Trades magazine in the late 1910s, made by American composer John Stepan Zamecnik.^[4] The 1960s saw contracts with six-figures such as an advance deal for $143,000 to Led Zeppelin (Atlantic Records) in 1968, then the biggest deal of its kind for a new band.^[5] The 1970s saw a rise in millionaire recording contracts, starting with a deal made by The Rolling Stones in 1971, which represented "a new benchmark in industry contracts", according to Billboard, and became the largest contract ever made by that point.^[6] In a short span of years, Neil Diamond signed a $4–5 million deal with Columbia Records, which was later superseded by Paul McCartney's Capitol Records and Elton John's MCA Records deals of $8 million each, as well as Stevie Wonder's 1975 deal with Motown valued at $13 million,^[b] reaching a new peak in the industry.^[8][9] The 1980s saw more contracts of eight figures, including record-breaking Diana Ross' $20 million contract with RCA Records in 1980,^[10] or the Rolling Stones with CBS Records for $28 million in 1983.^[11] An increase of blockbuster deals began in the 1990s, with top-signing artists such as Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Prince each exceeding the $40–60 million marks,^[12][13] making multiple appearances in the Guinness World Records.^[14] Up until 2016, only a few recording and multi-rights contracts outpaced the $100 million mark.^[15] The largest music deals belong to catalog acquisitions which include songwriting and publishing rights, with an increase in the late 2010s and early 2020s.^[16][17] The Estate of Michael Jackson made the largest recording deal, for a $250 million contract starting in 2010, and renewed in 2018 for the same amount,^[15][18] while Sony Music acquired the Queen catalog and a number of other rights, excluding touring revenue, for US$1.27 billion, the largest sum ever paid for an artist's body of work.^[19][20]

Various multi-million-sized music deals raised skepticism and been overall criticized in corporate terms for bi-directional disadvantages,^[c] including Prince's 1992 contract with Warner Bros deriving a contractual dispute.^[21] On that year, 1992, an editor from Telegraph Herald was critical of blockbuster deals by mainstream artists, commenting, "the goal wasn't to improve the music, it was to generate the most hype".^[26] Referred by a contributor from Forbes to as "the best-known and most-cited example" among misadventured contracts,^[15] Mariah Carey's 2001 deal with Virgin Records marked "the first time that a major music corporation decided to cut its losses on a superstar agreement", according to The New York Times.^[27]

Legend

Color
	Posthumous deal

List of largest recording contracts and multi-right deals

Year	Artist	Music company	Approx deal	Notes	Ref.
2017	Michael Jackson (Estate)	Sony	$250 million	The Estate of Michael Jackson extended the 2010 deal for an additional 7 years, effective January 2018 onwards.	[28]
2010	Michael Jackson (Estate)	Sony	$250 million	Reportedly the largest recording deal; The Estate of Michael Jackson signed a $250 million contract with Sony Music, spanning 2010-2017.	[29]
2008	Jay-Z	Live Nation	$150 million		[30]
2002	Robbie Williams	EMI Records	$125 million	Labeled as the largest British record deal in history.	[31]
2007	Madonna	Live Nation	$120 million	Labeled as the largest contract deal in history by a female artist.	[32][25][33]
1995	Michael Jackson	Sony Music	$100 Million		[34]
2001	Whitney Houston	Arista Records	$100 million	Considered the largest contract in music at that point.	[35]
2001	Mariah Carey	Virgin Records	$100–80 million	Considered the largest contract in music at that point.	[27][24][35]
2008	Shakira	Live Nation	$100–70 million		[36][37]
1996	R.E.M.	Warner Records	$80 million	Considered the largest contract made by a band and in music industry at that time.	[38][12]
1996	Janet Jackson	Virgin Records	$80–70 million	Considered the largest contract in music at that point.	[39][12]
2008	Nickelback	Live Nation	$70–50 million		[40]
1991	Michael Jackson	Sony Music	$65–60–50 million[d]	Considered the largest contract in music at that point.	[12][45][13][46]
1991	Paul McCartney	Capitol Records	$65 million		[14]
1992	Madonna	Warner Records	$60–50 million	Considered the largest contract in music for a female pop entertainer at that time.	[12][13][47][26]
1992	Barbra Streisand	Columbia Records	$60–40 million		[12][14]
1995	Metallica	Elektra Records	$60 million		[12]
1999	Backstreet Boys	Jive Records	$60 million		[48]
2022	YoungBoy Never Broke Again	Motown	$60 million		[49][50]
1998	U2	PolyGram	$50 million		[51]
1991	Janet Jackson	Virgin Records	$50–40–32 million	Considered the largest contract in music at that point.	[52][53][54]

Media estimations/expectatives

The following are contracts confirmed artists signed with respective record labels, but sums are largely based on media speculations.

Year	Artist	Music company	Approx deal	Notes	Ref.
2022	Drake	Universal Music Group	$400 million		[55]
1993	U2	Island Records	$200 million		[2]
2012	Lil Wayne	Cash Money Records	$150 million		[56]
2016	Adele	Columbia Records	$130 million	Originally reported by British tabloid The Sun, but reported by others as an undisclosed amount.	[15][57][58]
1992	Prince	Warner Bros	$100 million	Undisclosed price.[2]	[21]
2016	Harry Styles	Columbia Records	$80 million	Sum not confirmed.	[59]

List of largest music catalog acquisitions

Year	Artist	Purchaser company	Approx deal	Notes	Ref.
2024	Queen	Sony Music Publishing	$1.27 billion	The deal comprises Queen's recorded music catalog and additional rights, including royalties from the film Bohemian Rhapsody, valued at US$1.27 billion, the largest sum ever paid for an artist's body of work, excluding touring revenue.	[60][61]
2016	Michael Jackson (Estate)		$750 million	Michael Jackson's estate has sold his 50% stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which includes the music catalogues of several artists, notably the Beatles.	[62]
2024	Michael Jackson	Sony Music	$600 million	50% acquisition. Considered the biggest transaction ever struck for half of a single artist's body of work. This puts total value of rights at $1.2 billion.	[63][64]
2021	Bruce Springsteen	Sony Music	$550–500 million		[65][66]
2020	Pink Floyd	Sony Music	$400 million	The deal includes Pink Floyd's recorded music catalog, as well as their name, image, and likeness rights, but excludes music publishing assets	[67]
2020	Bob Dylan	Universal Music Group	$400–300 million	Undisclosed price. It is a songwriting catalog agreement.	[68][69]
2022	Phil Collins Genesis	Concord Music Group	$300 million		[69]
2021	Sting	Universal Music Publishing Group	$300 million		[69]
2018	Michael Jackson (Estate)	Sony	$287 million	Michael Jackson's estate sold its 10% stake in EMI Music Publishing to Sony.	[70]
2021	Paul Simon	Sony Music Publishing	$250 million		[71]
2022	David Bowie	Warner Chappell Music	$250 million		[69]
2023	Katy Perry	Litmus Music	$225 million		[72]
2023	Justin Bieber	Hipgnosis Songs Fund	$200 million		[71]
2021	Neil Young	Hipgnosis Songs Fund	$150 million		[69]
2022	Bob Dylan	Sony Music	$150 million	Catalog agreement.	[69]

See also

• Hollywood accounting
• Lists of most expensive items by category
  • List of most expensive albums
  • List of most valuable records
  • List of most expensive celebrity photographs
• Forbes list of highest-earning musicians

Cases

• Panayiotou v Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd.
• Taylor Swift masters dispute

Notes

1. The list excludes sponsorship deals, broadcasting rights, assets, or other business ventures made by recording artists with enterprises outside of the industry, such as record labels
2. Also reported for an amount of $37 million.^[7]
3. Examples: ^{[21][22][15][23][24][25]}
4. Michael Jackson's 1991 deal with Sony largely vary by estimations. Established figures ranged from $50 million to 60 million and even $65 million. Originally, the deal was even also estimated at $1 billion by early media speculations.^{[41][42][43][44]}