Rod Stewart Sells Catalog in 9-Figure Deal
Rod Stewart is the latest to sell his music catalog in a massive deal that includes name and likeness rights.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Stewart sold his catalog to Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group. The price of the deal is $100 million. The current list of artists with catalog deals with Azoff’s company includes Cher, Joe Cocker, Linda Ronstadt, David Crosby, Graham Nash and Stephen Stills.
Stewart said in a brief email statement, “Irving and I are a couple of old-timers, and I believe we have a mutual respect and admiration for each other. My life’s work is in safe hands with him.”
In June 2023, Billboard reported Stewart was close to a catalog deal with Hipgnosis. Sale talks went on for two years, only for Stewart to back out. At the time, he said of his decision, “This catalog represents my life’s work. And it’s become abundantly clear after much time and due diligence that this was not the right company to manage my song catalog, career or legacy.”
Rod Stewart Just the Beginning for Iconic Artists Group
WSJ notes this purchase from Iconic Artists Group comes as the company has raised more than $1 billion in capital. This capital was raised for future catalog investments. In other words, Iconic Artists Group is likely going to do some big catalog shopping in 2024 and beyond.
That potential shopping could include purchasing a stake in the Led Zeppelin catalog. In July 2023, a 10% stake in the Zeppelin catalog went up for sale. The stake is currently owned by Helen Grant, the daughter of the band’s former manager Peter Grant. New Media Law’s Ian Penman told Music Business Worldwide that Iconic Artists Group was among the candidates attempting to buy the stake.
In addition to owning the 10% stake, Peter Grant also had a 20% ownership stake in all of Zeppelin’s companies, too. Penman explained this was a big deal, because it meant trademarks were up for grabs.
“It includes the name,” said Penman. “The name, Led Zeppelin, is owned by a company that Helen co-owns.”
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