EXCLUSIVE: Reason First- The Weeknd Sells Catalog for A Reported Billion Dollars

The business of show demands that you know what your catalogue is supposed to look like. The late great Nipsey Hussle, Dr. Dre, Taylor Swift, Nelly, and Jay-Z have all had issues and some successes over the ownership of their publishing and masters.

The latter has never sold his masters or publishing but understands why people do it. In the latest case for music ownership, Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye has allegedly sold his rights to his music for one billion dollars. While he will still control how his music is consumed, will this be a contentious spot for him?

Over a career that has explored drug use, sexual situations, and spooky nights and a lilting tenor voice, The Weeknd has proved that he can be a major hitmaker. Some of the biggest hits from the past close to seventeen years have been generated from this Toronto, Canada native.

While this seems way more significant than Nelly’s fifty million dollars that he received on behalf of selling his music, do both artists not realize they could have leveraged for eleven figures or more if they had not sold?

With such a large dollar amount, anyone would rejoice over the money that would be granted to them with such a sale.

Artists like Taylor Swift found herself in a battle to retain her master recordings. During the process of re-recording her songs, she discovered that she had the chance to retain her masters and publishing rights.

This may have been the case for The Weeknd. He has such staggering numbers and his popularity propelled him to perform at the Super Bowl. As that was not a paid gig, it did stand as a gigantic commercial for his musical stylings. This of course boosted sales of his catalog hits and pushed him to become even more renowned.

It might be fun to listen to the music and enjoy the lyricism and instrumentation, but there is still a humongous machine behind all of the dancing and singing.

Companies will most often not clue their artists in on the benefits of retaining their creations. They often get mired in battles to even obtain their works. Just ask Jay-Z. One of the few artists to ever even discuss publishing and masters, he comprehends why people might sell, but he’s not about to hand over any music just yet. He wants to hand down his residuals to his children and grandchildren.

The Weeknd is part of a tradition that allows the artist to be in command of whatever happens to their offerings. A billion dollars is a great amount. But if greed is good, wouldn’t it have benefitted him if he didn’t just say, “Hey, I’m holding out for more.”

The company, Lyric, has outlined a provision for Tesfaye to have full control over the entire catalogue under his current XO/Republic/Universal Music Group, and Universal Music Publishing Group. In reality, this is still a giant move for the Weeknd. He has the power to push the limits of his role in music…and money.

These artists go on tour, cut records, use legions of lawyers and accountants to make sure their money is right. It would seem as if Tesfaye will not have to worry about much in the way of the latter.

If he plays this game well, he’ll have the opportunity to become one of the few artists to guide the financial future of their careers. This bold move might show how tenacious the Weeknd is or how he might have just sold himself short. Time will reveal all of this. With over 120 million streams a month on Spotify alone, Tesfaye may have positioned himself ahead of the game.