Why Major Labels Are Buying Catalogue: What It Means for Independent Artists

TL;DR

Major labels see music catalogues as stable, appreciating assets — essentially gold mines of perpetual streaming revenue. For independent artists, the lesson is clear: own your masters, build your catalogue, and think long-term.

The Catalogue Gold Rush in Numbers

In the last five years, the music industry has seen an unprecedented wave of catalogue acquisitions. Sony paid $500 million for Bruce Springsteen's catalogue. Universal acquired Bob Dylan's songwriting catalogue for an estimated $400 million. Hipgnosis Songs Fund spent billions acquiring catalogues from Shakira, Neil Young, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and hundreds of others.

The total spend on catalogue acquisitions since 2020 exceeds $10 billion. That's not a trend — that's a structural shift in how the music industry values intellectual property.

Why the frenzy? Because streaming has made old music more valuable than ever. Pre-streaming, catalogue revenue was declining as physical sales dropped. But streaming platforms gave old catalogues new life — a song from 1975 generates the same per-stream revenue as one from 2024. And catalogue music is less volatile than new releases, providing predictable, steady income.

What This Means for the Industry

The catalogue gold rush has several knock-on effects. First, it's concentrating ownership. When major labels and investment funds buy catalogues, they gain control over an ever-larger share of music's intellectual property. This concentration of power affects everything from streaming platform negotiations to sync licensing deals.

Second, it's inflating valuations. Catalogues are now valued at 15-30x their annual revenue, up from 8-12x a decade ago. This makes it harder for smaller buyers — independent labels, artist-led funds — to compete for acquisitions.

Third, it's changing label strategy. When Universal pays $400 million for a catalogue, they need that catalogue to generate returns. This means more aggressive exploitation: more sync placements, more playlist pushes, more TikTok campaigns for legacy tracks. In some ways, classic tracks are now competing with new releases for the same promotional real estate.

The Lesson for Independent Artists

If the biggest companies in music are spending billions to own catalogues, that tells you everything about the value of master recordings. The single most important financial decision you'll make as an artist is who owns your masters.

Every traditional major label deal takes ownership of your masters — often in perpetuity, meaning forever. The label will continue to earn from those recordings long after your deal ends. In the streaming era, where music generates income indefinitely, giving away perpetual master ownership is giving away a lifetime of earnings.

The alternative is to release independently (keeping 100% of your masters), or to negotiate licence deals with labels (where you licence the masters for a set period before they revert to you). Yes, an independent release might reach fewer people initially. But you'll own every stream, every sync fee, every sale in perpetuity.

Think of your catalogue like property. Every track you release and own is an asset that generates rent (royalties) forever. The artists who build valuable catalogues — who own their masters and release consistently over years — are building genuine wealth.

Building Your Catalogue as a Long-Term Asset

The most strategic thing any emerging artist can do is think about their catalogue as a long-term investment. This means several things in practice.

Release consistently. A large catalogue generates more total revenue than a small one, even if individual tracks aren't blockbusters. An artist with 50 tracks each generating modest streams can earn more than an artist with 3 tracks that perform well.

Own everything. Don't sign away your masters for a £5,000 advance. If you need funding, look for non-recoupable grants (Arts Council, PRS Foundation, Help Musicians), crowdfunding, or brand partnerships that don't require IP transfer.

Register everything properly. PRS, PPL, ISRC codes, publishing administration. Every unregistered play is money left on the table. Use services like Songtrust or Sentric to handle global publishing collection without signing a traditional publishing deal.

And be patient. Catalogue value is measured in decades, not weeks. The tracks you release this year might be generating meaningful income ten years from now — but only if you own them. In a world where music catalogues are being traded like stocks, the smartest investment an artist can make is in their own intellectual property.