Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Nickelback, a Canadian hard rock band, appears to be among the many bands that have recently profited from selling shares in their catalogues, masters, and publishing, as per theprp. The band entered into such a financial agreement a number of years ago, according to bassist Mike Kroeger. In a recent interview with Audacy, Kroeger confessed that he and his bandmates sold about “80%” of their rights to an unidentified third party. The interviewer speculated that Nickelback‘s catalogue would probably be worth at least $200 million, which provoked his answer.
Well, we found out how much it’s worth, ’cause we did sell 80% of it. [We did that] a couple of years ago. It is an interesting thing to try to assign a value to something like that. It’s very interesting. It was a really, really peculiar and interesting process, but we got a good partner and we’re real happy with how it went.
There is little doubt that the band would earn a sizable payoff, even though the terms of their agreement were not disclosed. The band received numerous multi-platinum and gold certifications throughout the course of their career, and their album “All The Right Reasons” went diamond in the US alone. Additionally, they have a number of successful tunes that are still played and streamed every day on rock radio stations. Bands now frequently accept the upfront payment from a third party rather than depending on the slow trickle of royalties and the like, as the transition from physical to digital has left many musicians vulnerable to low streaming payouts and touring becoming the main source of income.
Last year, Slipknot, Nickelback‘s former Roadrunner labelmates, reportedly sold a portion of their catalogue for $120 million. The legendary funk rock group Red Hot Chilli Peppers reportedly made a $300 million deal to sell its masters this year. Another band that purportedly recently underwent a buyout is alternative metal group Deftones, however the specifics of their deal were not made public.
