More Details Trickle In On Britney Spears’ $200M+ Catalog Sale

Photo Credit: Britney Spears performing in Toronto by hnkkk / CC by 2.0

Multiple reports claim Britney Spears sold her entire catalog to Primary Wave for $200 million—but that may be an overstatement. Here’s what we know so far.

This week, multiple reports surfaced that Britney Spears sold her entire catalog to Primary Wave in a deal amounting to approximately $200 million. However, that statement may not be entirely accurate, as Spears’ stake in her work does not encompass her entire catalog.

Sony Music Entertainment (via its Jive and RCA label divisions) owns the Britney Spears master recordings, as well as substantial publishing interests. To further complicate matters, neither Primary Wave nor other stakeholders (including Spears and associates) have commented on the alleged deal.

So then, what was actually sold? We still don’t have confirmation, but sources told Digital Music News that the deal actually involves Britney Spears’ “writer’s share” of the publishing catalog, as well as a possible payment against future income streams on the recorded music side—meaning whatever money she gets from Sony for the rights they own.

What this could mean is that in the case of many of her hits, Britney might not actually be getting the lion’s share of the money here, and hasn’t been for some time. However, it would require a song-by-song analysis to know exactly which rights were distributed where.

It’s unclear what other assets might be involved in the sale. Primary Wave and its founder and CEO, Larry Mestell, remain extremely bullish on “Name, Image, and Likeness” (NIL) rights. Recent examples of that include the immersive Bob Marley experience in Las Vegas, which illustrates how NIL rights can be utilized to create new experiences and productions for fans to spend money on.

Sources also indicate that no masters reversal process has taken place, meaning Spears hasn’t been trying to get back more of her rights—and she may not be eligible to do so yet, anyway.

Regardless, the reported $200 million price tag might seem lofty for partial rights. But given that Britney Spears is still considered one of the most culturally significant figures—not just musicians—of the 21st century, $200 million might be a small price to pay for some potentially valuable IP. That rings even more true if the deal does, in fact, extend out to her full catalog.