(FILES) In this April 25, 2011 file photo legendary American singer, songwriter, poet, artist and actor, Bob Dylan performs at the 22nd annual Bluesfest music festival near Byron Bay, Australia. Two years after his history-making electric performance, Bob Dylan holed himself up in a basement in upstate New York and played what became some of the most famous recordings never released. The prolific singer and songwriter, who had emerged as a defining voice of the 1960s, had suffered a motorcycle accident that forced him to take a break from the road. The involuntary convalescence ended up producing some of the most critically acclaimed work of his career. The 1967 recordings became what is considered rock history's first bootleg record: "Great White Wonder," a title that was simply a name for the vinyl's plain white packaging but occasionally became a moniker for Dylan himself. Nearly a half-century later, Dylan is releasing the entirety of the collection. The six-CD boxed-set, "The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series, Volume 11," goes on sale on November 3, 2014 in Europe and November 4 in North America. AFP PHOTO / Torsten BLACKWOOD / FILES
Universal Music has bought the entire back catalogue of Bob Dylan’s songs, it announced on Monday, in a purported nine-figure deal for one of the most prized rights’ collections in music history.
The deal covers more than 600 song copyrights spanning 60 years, including Blowin’ In The Wind,The Times They Are a-Changin , Like A Rolling Stone , Lay Lady Lay and Forever Young ,” Universal Music said in a statement.
The music company gave no financial details of the purchase but the Financial Times reported it was a “nine-figure deal.” The New York Times estimated the price at more than $300 million.
“The deal is the most significant music publishing agreement this century and one of the most important of all time,” Universal Music said in its statement.
The value of owning music rights has soared in recent years with the surge in popularity of streaming sites such as Spotify.
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.
