i heard it's valued at $300m.
This is hard for me to understand. Does Dylan need $300 million that bad? I would think he would be extremely affluent based on royalties alone, then add in all the tour income.
Just a theory: He knows he won't be around much longer, so he's cashing in, in order to leave a big inheritance for his kids.
There must be more to the deal than that. $300mm is low for Pulitzer & Nobel Prize-winning Dylan who wrote some of the most iconic songs in American music history. Stevie Nicks just sold hers for $100mm & she's just not that special in the scheme of things. I'm personally not a Dylan fan, but that sounds wrong.
Publishing deals have been enriching song-writers for decades & the one that made news was Michael Jackson buying part of the Beatles' catalogue for $47mm in 1985. Litigation has followed ever since (Jackson outbid McCartney), especially since Jackson died before the expiration of the copyrights. Litigation is using $1 Billion as the current market value of the Beatles' sale.
I'm not comparing the quality of the music between the Beatles & Dylan but considering them as assets - how they can be exploited - by others singing them, tv/film/video games/ring tones, and however music is used in the future.
It's about control. If he sells now, he chooses the buyer. If he leaves it as part of his estate, his catalogue could be divided or sold to an entity he doesn't trust.
Elvis's estate was litigated for years, but much of that was over his likeness and merchandise not his recordings. Hendrix had an estate plan controlled by his oldest daughter.
I read the Dylan deal is worth nine figures so the $300 million dollar figure sounds feasible.
I was under the impression the Hendrix estate was a complete mess when he died as he had no will and had a crappy recording and publishing deal. I believe the bulk of the publishing and his money was controlled for many years by a couple of individuals who took great advantage of him prior to and after his death.
I thought it was only 15 years or so ago that after multiple attempts in court that the bulk of his estate, including the ownership of his original songs and likeness, was finally granted to his younger sister who has since controlled it via a family trust type of arrangement.....I do know the estate generates millions of dollars per year still these many years after his death.
I agree with prior posts re smart money management at his age factoring in heirs and fate of catalog. Having said that, I am trying to imagine the type song a 20 something Dylan would have written in the Village in the 60's, about an aging musician selling a catalog for 40 million bucks (time adjusted 300 mil). "Mr. Jones sells out".
You're right. Hendrix's sister & her daughter control the estate.
I think the $300mm for Dylan seems too low given the body of work. There have to be some other provisions that raise the value & set restrictions on how the works can be used.
I don't consider it selling out; it's estate planning. It's his biggest asset. Some people have houses, cars, stock portfolios; he has copyrights. He can't take it w/him so he might as well do the deal himself & distribute the proceeds as he chooses.
I don't consider it selling out; it's estate planning. It's his biggest asset. Some people have houses, cars, stock portfolios; he has copyrights. He can't take it w/him so he might as well do the deal himself & distribute the proceeds as he chooses.
I don't either. Maybe read my post again. I was speculating what Bob Dylan in 1964 might have written about such an event. It was tongue in cheek humor attempt, intended for those familiar with Dylan's early protest (as they called it) aspect. But thanks for financial tutoring, ha.
Bob Dylan has pointed out on several occasions that he has never asserted that he was one of those "thou shalt not sell out" types. He says that this ... "image" has been projected onto him by "hippier than thou" types from a generation or two after his own. I've got a CD that he released a few years ago for the Victoria's Secret lingerie chain! He even appeared in a commercial for them! The man's entitled to reap the financial rewards of his own hard work. God knows that I've gotten more than my money's worth of joy from his music - including vinyl CDs and many, many (as in MANY!) concerts.
The man's got his own line of hard liqour for sale! 
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I got the sarcasm. I disagree that a young Dylan considered making money "bad" or "selling out." How others used his songs to advance their anti-money, down w/capitalism agenda didn't necessarily reflect Dylan's opinions. A young Jerry Rubin might've considered the older stockbroker Jerry Rubin a sell-out.
I got the sarcasm. I disagree that a young Dylan considered making money "bad" or "selling out." How others used his songs to advance their anti-money, down w/capitalism agenda didn't necessarily reflect Dylan's opinions. A young Jerry Rubin might've considered the older stockbroker Jerry Rubin a sell-out.
I think I read it in an old copy of National Lampoon: "Hippies are the stockbrokers who don't wear underwear." 😉
Said on news just now 79 year old Bob Dylan sells his songwriting catalog to Universal Music Publishing but both parties declined to reveal how much. But industry insiders say the deal is worth north of 300 million and possibly as high as 450 million. The company just wrapped a deal with Stevie Nicks for 80 million.
It said Dylan songs have been recorded by over 6,000 artists and bands worldwide.
All Along The Watchtower by Hendrix is one and I like Jimi's version better than Bob's.
Dickey did Tangled up in Blue on his 2002 Collectors release but it wasn't a big seller.
Article in today's paper says, "The deal does not include rights to Dylan's own recordings of his material."
I think some here may be over estimating the actual monetary worth. As the industry and royalty payouts have declined in a major way, Dylan's (everyones') value will continue to drop. The money is in the handful of covers that people did that are real stand out hits such as All Along The Watchtower. Dylan lacks the standout huge selling albums. Some have mention Stevie Nicks' deal - she is paid out from one of the biggest selling albums of all time. Bob doesn't have one of those. Amazing songs and most didn't sell all that well in comparison to some artists.
It isn't about legend, influence or how meaningful some songs are. Young bands are not exactly covering Dylan right now. He will not have another major selling album or song of any kind so it is what it is. If Bob can get $300 million+ then he should grab it and run. Movies and commercials are another avenue but the age demographics for the money targets has passed Dylan's era and moved into the Classic rock/Eighties tunes. Used to jog the memory and create a flashback to youth to sell that car or help a movie. His fan base is beyond the Sports Car age. The times they are a changin'. Some of us are old and some of us are really old. LOL
Bob is very smart to take the cash as the future revenues are uncertain at best for all artists. Money in the bank and a lot less worries about cash and business. Take the money and run.
Paul McCartney talking about song rights. Paul admits early on they didnt know what that was about and another man was making more off Beatles songs than them. That person eventually sold the catalog (he had 51%) and it changed hands several times then Michael Jackson bought it and it damaged Paul's friendship with Michael. He says he discovered it was for sale again and heard 20 million. Called Yoko Ono and said you pay 10 million and I'll pay 10 million and she said we can get it for 5 million each but it sold for 50 million.
Gregg was cash strapped before the ABB formed and sold half of Melissa to Steve Alaimo who would sell his half back later. So on Eat A Peach it's credited to Gregg and Alaimo. When I bought it in February 1972 I wondered "Did the guy who did Everyday I Have To Cry Some write that with Gregg? Turned out he wrote NOTHING. But Eat A Peach sold over a million copies and Alaimo got half of the royalties on that track on Melissa. I think Phil Walden may have got Alaimo to finally sell it back.
Also on Eat A Peach, One Way Out written by Elmore James and Marshall Sehorn. But Sehorn didn't write anything but bought into he song according to what I read paying Elmore. Then later it was decided Sonny Boy Williamson 2 also wrote some of it so later copies of Eat A Peach and releases such as A Decade Of Hits from 1991 by the Allman Brothers have to have Sonny Boy Williamson 2 on the credit. That best hits CD sold over 2 million copies and Marshall Sehorn got a cut there. Gregg and Dickey made a ton of money but the band didn't own the old Capricorn tracks and had nothing to do with the release in 1991 so Butch didn't get a dime which upset Butch back in the 1990's when it was reported how well it had sold by 1995 when it went DOUBLE PLATINUM.
I'm so darn old I remember Steve having this hit on Top 40 radio. When I noticed Melissa written by Gregg Allman and Steve Alaimo on my original copy I was puzzled. Gregg Allman wrote a song with him?
Steve Alamio apparently is still living and older to me!!! He is 81.
Arthur Alexander wrote, "Every Day I Have to Cry (Some)" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Every_Day_I_Have_to_Cry_(song)
Did Alaimo rip him off, too?
Article in today's paper says, "The deal does not include rights to Dylan's own recordings of his material."
And today, it was announced that a new deal was executed in July 2021 to sell his entire catalogue of recorded music (since 1962) & any future recordings to Sony for an estimated $200 mm. Sounds like estate planning for the 80 year old is wrapped up.
@cyclone88 Yes it was just on cable news. Dylan sold to Sony Music but both sides would not reveal the amount but Billboard Magazine, which tracks music sales, said the deal was for $200 million. In other words Bob Dylan gets $200 million and Sony owns the music.
I still chuckle when I think about Bob being asked on TV in the late 1960's what did he think of what Jimi did to All Along The Watchtower. Bob said " Well that was Jimi's doings. That is Jimi's song, no doubt about that. I didn't have much to do with that. All I did was write the song".
Just as we are ready for the beginning of a major war in Ukraine, this footage is fitting as we listen to the greatest cover song in history. It's so good that it became the original. Bob Dylan agreed and began playing it similar to this himself!!
