Cashing in: David Bowie's song rights sold to Warner

Warner Chappell Music (WCM), the publishing arm of Warner Music Group, has acquired the rights to David Bowie's entire catalog of songs in a deal worth at least $250 million (€221 million), according to anonymous sources speaking to show business trade publication Variety.

This covers all 26 studio albums the late British rock star released during his lifetime, as well as the upcoming posthumous release, "Toy."

Spanning 60 years, Bowie's catalog includes hits such as "Heroes," "Changes," "Space Oddity," "Let's Dance," "Ziggy Stardust," as well as his 1981 collaboration with Queen, "Under Pressure." 

WCM now owns the rights to Bowie's songwriting itself, as well as to almost all the recordings of it.

"These are not only extraordinary songs, but milestones that have changed the course of modern music for ever," WCM chief executive Guy Moot said in a statement. "We are looking forward to tending his unparalleled body of songs with passion and care as we strive to build on the legacy of this most extraordinary human being."

The company had already concluded a deal in September 2021 to acquire Bowie's recordings from 2000 until his death in 2016, adding to its ownership of the singer's 1968 to 1999 recordings.

A pioneer of glam rock

Bowie, who died of cancer in January 2016, first shot to fame in Britain in 1969 with "Space Oddity," inspired by Stanley Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey," which he said he'd watched while stoned.

However, it was his 1972 alter ego Ziggy Stardust, a bisexual rock envoy from space, that earned him global renown.

The influential singer kept reinventing himself throughout his career, adopting various other personas along the way, including Aladdin Sane, Halloween Jack, the Thin White Duke and the Blind Prophet.

A Bowie commemoration weekend

The inking of this deal comes in the run-up to the "Bowie 75" celebration, commemorating what would have been the singer's 75th birthday on Saturday, January 8.

His previously unreleased "Toy" album will be available the day before. It includes re-recorded versions of lesser-known songs from Bowie's earlier days.

Other milestone birthday events include pop-up stores in New York and London.

A new boxed set, "Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001)," was released in November 2021, while a film on Bowie, featuring rare and previously unpublished performance footage, is also reported to be in the works. According to the US media company Variety, it could premiere at the Sundance Film Festival later this January.

Brett Morgen, who also directed "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck," worked on it for four years together with longtime Bowie collaborator and producer, Tony Visconti, who served as the film's music director.

Bowie and Berlin

The singer had special ties with Berlin. 

To flee his excessive lifestyle in Los Angeles, Bowie sought refuge in former West Berlin in 1976.

With Iggy Pop as his one-time housemate, Bowie was inspired by the somber mood of the then-walled city and produced three albums here: "Heroes," "Low" and "Lodger." They would go down in music history as the "Berlin Trilogy."

Bowie would return time and again to perform here, and on his 66th birthday announced his new album, "The Next Day," which featured the deeply personal single, "Where Are We Now?" In the song, he reflects on his Berlin years from 1976 to 1979.

Divesting of rights

The Bowie-WCM deal comes on the heels of a series of major acquisitions by various recording companies of the catalogs of pop artists, including those of Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and members of Fleetwood Mac, who have all sold the rights for their songs in exchange for staggering sums of money.

Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier