Bowie Estate Sells Songwriting Catalog to Warner Music (nytimes.com) 23
David Bowie's estate has sold his entire songwriting catalog to Warner Music, including classics like "Space Oddity," "Let's Dance" and "Heroes," in the latest blockbuster deal for music rights. The New York Times reports: Warner's music publishing division, Warner Chappell, announced the agreement on Monday, saying that it encompassed Bowie's entire corpus as a songwriter, from the material on his 1967 debut album, "David Bowie," to his final album, "Blackstar," released just before Bowie's death in 2016 at age 69. The deal, for more than 400 songs, also includes soundtrack music; the material for Bowie's short-lived band Tin Machine from the late 1980s and early '90s; and other works. The price of the transaction was not disclosed, but is estimated at about $250 million. "These are not only extraordinary songs, but milestones that have changed the course of modern music forever," Guy Moot, the chief executive of Warner Chappell, said in a statement. David Bowie, the so-called "most wired rock star on the planet," has been featured in a number of Slashdot stories over the years.
In 2002, Bowie talked about his new album, distribution deal with Sony, and how he's "fully confident that copyright, for instance, will no longer exist in 10 years, and authorship and intellectual property is in for such a bashing."
In the late 90s, Bowie advocated for MP3s, telling The Guardian that they "could change the entire idea of what music is -- and that isn't so bad." Years later, he seemed to agree that concert ticket prices needed to increase to offset the rise in P2P file sharing and illegal downloads.
In 2002, Bowie talked about his new album, distribution deal with Sony, and how he's "fully confident that copyright, for instance, will no longer exist in 10 years, and authorship and intellectual property is in for such a bashing."
In the late 90s, Bowie advocated for MP3s, telling The Guardian that they "could change the entire idea of what music is -- and that isn't so bad." Years later, he seemed to agree that concert ticket prices needed to increase to offset the rise in P2P file sharing and illegal downloads.
That should just not be allowed (Score:3, Informative)
Warner didn't create the music
Re: (Score:3)
Rightly or wrongly it's intellectual *property*, and since IP is pretty much forever, does it matter whether it's Bowie's estate or Warner that owns it? His estate (which I'm assuming is his widow and his two children) get a big wad of cash and don't have to have future battles over royalties. It doesn't change the music of his I own, and he's dead, so even if Warner does ridiculous things with his music (which I'm certain they will), it can't really hurt him. And keep in mind Bowie himself tried this in t
Public Domain (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
There is some unpleasant risk with tying the copyright to the death of the creator. In some cases, it gives motive to off the creator.
Re:Public Domain (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Then there's no more creator. Not a good strategy.
Not? If you are just trying to make a quick buck by selling stuff that you don't have any right to, you are not interested in any future work that artist might produce. You are interested in selling the work that has already been produced and, more importantly, is popular right now.
This is a hypothetical discussion, but how many criminals do you know of that are truly strategical? Versus those that see an opportunity and just take it?
Re: (Score:3)
A creator may produce a work for the benefit of their family late in life. Like, for example Ulysses S. Grant when he wrote his memoirs while dying of cancer.
But it's hard to point to any work where financial benefits more than ten years in the future were a consideration in deciding to create a work (or how much to invest in it). But just in case, let's have a copyright term of twenty years. And to transition, anything set to expire before then is unaffected, but everything else is twenty years from now
Re: (Score:2)
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"Copyright is there to encourage production of art. The artist is dead. Copyright should be terminated. (I know... I'm a dreamer.)"
Completely agreed, unfortunately it last until the great-great-great-great-children are dead, even if he doesn't have any.
Vampire squids (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
The notion Bowie's catalogue is now owned by blood sucking vampire squids makes me sad.
Really? Sad when you make it sound cool like that? It sounds fairly Thin White Duke to me.
digital music wants to be free (Score:1)
All might dollar (Score:3)
An now we will see classic Bowie on tampon and viagra commercials. Yee Haw. There is no shame.
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks, I wasn't even thinking about this when I read the headline, but it of course is what is about to happen if the deal did not include a contract saying otherwise, and from the article I can't see it did.
Mandatory Licensing (Score:3, Insightful)
Thanks to mandatory licensing, you don't have to subscribe to Warner+ streaming to listen to Bowie's music (with a few exceptions that were previously licensed exclusively to Sony+). Instead this means the revenue stream of royalties and any licensing for use in advertising or movies will go to Warner, and his estate gets a big lump of cash with no worries that they'll get cheated out of royalties due to accounting fraud.
The Doors lasting popularity (Score:3)
I wonder how much of that is connected to Morrison's insistence, back by his family who inherited his stake, that the band stick to its ideal of not allowing their music to be used for advertising.
I was watching Altered States, and there was a neat scene where William Hurt's character is first spotted by Blair Brown's, and the Door's song Light My Fire is playing.
Had Light My Fire been played to death in commercials, that scene might not hold up as well.
P.S. Yeah, "The Doors of Perception" and Altered States is a good match, and IIRC Hurt's character is entering a door/crossing a threshold, framed by bright light, when he is spotted, and the Doors song plays, so nice job, imo.
T. Rex left us a song for this moment (Score:2)
T. Rex - Rip Off [Lyrics]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
He didn't die (Score:2)
Ah, the dream of all musicians! (Score:2)
To be eaten by capitalist vultures. What a dishonor to those who can never create music again.