In the United States, music catalogs are increasingly treated as tradable financial assets, with many superstars reaping substantial profits from sales. In Spain, however, this model is rarely put into practice, primarily due to legal and practical constraints.
The Catalog Sales Boom in the U.S. Market
Britney Spears sold her catalog to Primary Wave in early February for approximately $200 million (around €173 million). Bob Dylan sold his publishing rights to Universal Music Publishing Group for about $300 million, while Neil Young sold 50% of his catalog to Hipgnosis Songs Fund. Founded by Merck Mercuriadis in 2018 and previously financed through the stock market, the fund was acquired by Blackstone in 2024 and now operates as Recognition Music Group. These deals treat catalogs as assets that generate stable cash flow, used to diversify investment risk.
The Perspective of Spanish Artists
Kiko Veneno believes that copyright has always been a financial asset. In the 1960s and 70s, it was controlled by and benefited many creators, whereas today it is concentrated in the hands of a few companies and platforms. Similarly, Loquillo points out that once a copyright is registered and protected, its financial nature is established. Both artists acknowledge the economic value of copyrights but stress that the Spanish environment makes large-scale transactions difficult.
Key Legal Obstacles
Spain’s Intellectual Property Law explicitly states that moral rights are inalienable and non-transferable, meaning authors always retain the right to object to certain uses of their work. Lawyer Arturo Parga explains that this contrasts with the U.S. model, as the civil law system focuses more on protecting the author’s often weaker position. Furthermore, some economic rights, classified as non-transferable remuneration rights, must be managed through collecting societies like SGAE. This prevents authors from completely detaching from the future market performance of their works.
Additional Practical Challenges
Catalog valuation requires reliable historical data, but the quality of data from Spain’s SGAE is not on par with that of the U.S. or Germany, increasing transaction risks. On the tax front, large personal sales face significant income tax burdens, while setting up shell companies can easily trigger tax audits. These factors reduce the appeal of local deals.
Limited Local Attempts and Future Outlook
There have been some instances, such as the acquisition of songwriter David Santisteban’s catalog by Clippers, and The Musix project, which attempted to fractionalize rights for small investors. Overall, however, Spanish music catalogs are still far from becoming ‘stock market assets’ like their U.S. counterparts.
