Madonna returning to spotlight with doco, Warner Music catalogue deal
Madonna is about to return to the spotlight with a new documentary, and a multi-year reissues campaign of her albums after re-signing with Warner Music Group.
Her Madame X documentary makes its Australian debut on October 8 on Paramount+.
Directed by Ricardo Gomes, it features footage from her 2019/2020 world tour, which had 48 on-stage performers, and in which she played a globetrotting secret agent with an eyepatch.
On August 16, the superstar celebrated her 63rd birthday with a new global agreement for her entire recorded music catalogue.
It includes 17 ground-breaking studio albums, singles, soundtracks, live albums and compilations.
With sales of 300 million albums, Madonna is the best-selling female artist of all time, according to Guinness World Records.
The new deal puts all her records in the same file, with the three most recent – MDNA, Rebel Heart and Madame X which were issued on Universal Music— to return to Warner in 2025.
The singer, songwriter and producer will personally curate expansive deluxe editions for many of her landmark albums.
She will also put together unique releases for special events, the major label said.
Madonna said: “Since the very beginning, Warner Music Group has helped bring my music and vision to all my fans around the world with the utmost care and consideration.
“They have been amazing partners, and I am delighted to be embarking on this next chapter with them to celebrate my catalogue from the last 40 years.”
Warner Music Group’s CEO of recorded music Max Lousada, added: “We’re honoured to be forming a dynamic new partnership with an incomparable superstar whose influence on our musical and artistic landscape is immense and immutable.
“Madonna has changed the course of pop and dance music, while taking live performance to new heights of drama and invention.
“At the same time, she uses her fame to amplify some of the most important social issues and movements of our time.
“Constantly and fearlessly challenging convention, her four decades of music are not only an extraordinary body of work, but a playbook for creative and cultural evolution.”
2022 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of her debut album Madonna, retitled Madonna: The First Album for the 1985 reissue.
She was signed by Seymour Stein, founder of Sire Records which was part of the Warner group, after her music began to be played in New York dance clubs.
In Australia, the album reached #10 and was certified triple Platinum for sales of over 200,000.
It sold 10 million worldwide, half of that in the US.
She followed it up with chart stormers as Like A Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986), Ray Of Light (1998), Confessions On A Dance Floor (2005) and Hard Candy (2008).
Warner Chappell Music also globally administers all of Madonna’s songwriting work.