Red Hot Chili Peppers to sell music catalogue for upwards of $140 million USD

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are the latest musical act to get in on what is being dubbed as “the intellectual property gold rush”.

According to Variety, sources have confirmed that the band will be selling their music catalogue to Hipgnosis Songs for north of $140 million. It is also known that the band’s catalogue, predominantly written by Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Chad Smith and John Frusciante generates $5 million to $6 million in net publishers’ share.

Further reported by Variety, Hipgnosis are notorious in their catalogue acquiring moves, even going so far as to referring to it as “unparalleled in music industry history”.

While price tag associated with the Chili Pepper’s catalogue selling might cause your jaw to drop, it’s not totally unexpected. You’ll recall the recent headlines that Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham, Neil Young and more had also sold to the group.

And that’s only recently – over the past few years Hipgnosis have acquired other catalogues from other chart topping artists and producers including Chrissie Hynde, Blondie, Barry Manilow, Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA and more.

Paul Simon also recently sold his entire music catalogue earlier this year to Sony Music Publishing.

On the deal, Sony Music Publishing’s CEO, John Platt said in a statement, “Paul Simon is a masterful, once-in-a-lifetime songwriter whose remarkable body of work has generated an enduring influence on our culture and consciousness.”

Last December Bob Dylan sold his catalogue to Universal Music Publishing Group for a hefty $400 million USD. And while the financials for Simon’s deal were never revealed, Dylan’s certainly were, with the deal being confirmed to having sold to Universal Music Publishing Group for a grand total of $400 million USD.

Other artists including Neil Young and Lindsay Buckingham have also recently sold their publishing rights, as well as Mick Fleetwood selling his recorded rights to BMG. According to Billboard, at the moment it’s unclear if the Red Hot Chili Peppers acquisition has been finalised.

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This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.