Pop music princess Britney Spears has decided to sell the rights to her entire music catalog to Primary Wave. The deal is estimated to be worth up to 200 million U.S. dollars, or about 6.223 billion baht, after she declared she "would never return to the music industry again."
Britney Spears, the 44-year-old superstar, agreed to sell the rights to all her music works to Primary Wave, a major independent music rights management company, on 30 December. The deal is estimated to be worth around 200 million U.S. dollars (approximately 6.223 billion baht).
Britney is one of the best-selling female artists of all time, having sold over 150 million records worldwide. The music catalog she sold includes all nine studio albums since her debut in 1999, featuring legendary hits well known to fans worldwide such as "...Baby One More Time," "Oops!... I Did It Again," "Toxic," and "Gimme More."
This move comes after Britney announced via social media in January 2024 that she "would never return to the music industry again." Her most recent musical work was a collaboration with Elton John on the song "Hold Me Closer" in 2022.
The decision to sell her music rights follows many difficult years. In 2021, she was finally freed from a 13-year-long legal conservatorship in which her father controlled both her finances and personal life.
Earlier in 2023, Britney published a memoir titled "The Woman in Me," recounting the suffering she endured under that control. Meanwhile, her ex-husband Kevin Federline also released his own book, "You Thought You Knew," at the end of 2025.
Britney is not the first artist to convert their music catalog into cash. Other global stars have made similar moves, such as Bruce Springsteen, who sold his music catalog rights to Sony in 2021 for as much as 500 million dollars, and Justin Bieber, who sold the rights to 291 songs in his catalog to Hipgnosis in 2023 for 200 million dollars. Other artists include Justin Timberlake and Shakira.
Primary Wave was founded 20 years ago by Lawrence Mestel, who began by purchasing 50% of the rights to Kurt Cobain’s works from Nirvana. The company currently holds rights to works by late artists such as Notorious B.I.G., Prince, and Whitney Houston.
However, so far neither Primary Wave nor Britney Spears' representatives have issued an official statement regarding the details or exact price of this deal.
/sourceBBC