Keith Urban Sells Masters to Litmus Music

Keith Urban has sold his master recordings to Litmus Music, the Los Angeles-based music rights business.

Financial terms were not disclosed for the deal, which includes ten multi-platinum, platinum or gold certified studio albums and a career retrospective compilation.

The New Zealand-born, Australia-raised, U.S.-based Urban is one of the most decorated artists in country music — a superstar in Nashville.

His trophy cabinet includes four Grammy Awards, five ARIA Awards (including the outstanding achievement award in 2001)

Urban, who hosted the 2018 ARIA Awards, has landed 46 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and has two U.S. No. 1 albums to his name, Defying Gravity (from 2009) and Fuse (2013).

On the ARIA Charts, he has bagged eight top 10 albums, including four No. 1s, and nine top 50 singles.

He’s also bagged 21 No. 1s on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.

Through the new arrangement, announced Tuesday (Dec. 13) out of the U.S., Litmus will continue to “collaborate in close partnership” with Urban and his management team Borman Entertainment as he continues work in the studio on his next album, due in 2023.

The as-yet untitled LP will be the follow-ups to The Speed of Now Part 1, which peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart in 2020, one of his eight top 10 charting LPs.

Litmus was founded earlier this year by major label veterans Hank Forsyth and Dan McCarroll, along with US$500 million backing from Carlyle’s Global Credit platform.

“What makes this such a great fit for me is the genuine passion and respect Dan, Hank and the team at Litmus have for this music,” comments Urban in a statement. “In working with them, I feel that same collaborative spirit that’s always inspired me as an artist.”

Adds Matt Settle, managing director at Carlyle: “We’re enthusiastic about this initial deal between Keith and Litmus Music, the industry and the opportunity moving forward.”

The Rolling Stone Australia cover star is the latest in a shopping list of recording artists to sell their master rights in what has appeared to be a super-heated market.

The master rights to six Taylor Swift albums, including her early, country-flavoured recordings, changed hands again in 2020 for upwards of US$300 million, while U.S. country star and TV personality Blake Shelton sold his catalogue earlier in the year in a multi-million-dollar deal.

Urban will support his next album release with a residency at Las Vegas’ Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, kicking off March 3, 2023.