Deftones Sell Majority of Music Rights to Warner Music: What We Know

Deftones have sold most of the band’s music rights to Warner Music Group (WMG), according to sources. While terms of the deal and its timing are unknown, sources say that when the catalog was being shopped, the band was seeking a mid‑ to high‑double‑digit multiple.

That multiple refers to how many times net label share and net publisher’s share (a.k.a. gross profit) can be divided into the valuation price. While publishing deals usually carry a higher multiple than master‑recording royalties, that gap has been narrowing in recent years. Today, music assets generally trade — depending on the catalog’s heritage and the rights involved — in a 12‑ to 18‑times‑multiple range, though superstar artists and songwriters have been known to achieve above 20‑times multiples.

Sources say the Deftones rights package sold included the band’s master‑recording royalties, its co‑publishing stake, and writer royalties. WMG already owns the band’s master recordings, while the band’s co‑publisher is Warner Chappell. Sources further suggest that only four members sold their rights, with the exclusion of one member of the band, who retained his publishing stake and will still be receiving his share of the master‑recording royalties.

Sources say the deal could have occurred as long as two years ago, as that’s when some suitors say they were first approached by Deftones’ representatives shopping the band’s music assets. The sale date would impact the valuation because over the last three years the catalog’s sales and streaming activity have exploded.

That said, the band’s sales and streaming activity began increasing as many as six years ago. During the 2017–2019 period — before the growth began to accelerate in 2020 — Deftones’ catalog averaged 166,000 album‑consumption units annually, including 41,000 album sales and 162 million on‑demand U.S. streams. As streaming grew, so did the band’s fortunes.

In the 2020–2022 period, annual catalog consumption jumped to an average of 416,000 units, including 149,000 album sales and 378 million on‑demand U.S. streams. Notably, 2022 was the breakout year: activity climbed 82.6% to 630,000 units, up from 345,000 the year before.

For the most recent three‑year period of 2023–2025, growth continued to go through the roof in the U.S., with annual album‑consumption units averaging 1.322 million — triple the previous three‑year period’s annual average of 416,000. Within that, album‑copy sales grew to an annual average of 391,000 units, while streams grew to an annual average of 1.3 billion. The band’s global streams, including U.S. streams, also exploded during the most recent period, annually averaging 2.17 billion versus the annual average of 634 million for the three‑year period of 2020–2022. Within that period, 2025 was an extraordinary year for the band, with U.S. album‑consumption totaling 1.863 million units while global streams reached almost 2.69 billion.

What’s been driving that explosive growth? While Deftones have released two albums this decade — Ohms in 2020 and Private Music last year — they are not what’s driving the bulk of the band’s sales and streaming activity. Private Music generated 249,000 album‑consumption units in the U.S. last year, while Ohms garnered nearly 37,000 album‑consumption units, with Luminate showing a lifetime total of 294,000 units for the latter title.

Instead, Deftones albums released prior to 2016 are putting up the biggest numbers for the band. For example, last year:

A combination of factors is driving that growth, according to retailers and label and distribution executives. Carl Mello, head buyer for Newbury Comics, says Deftones aren’t the only act enjoying newfound popularity but “heavy music in general.” Furthermore, he chalks up the revival to a new generation discovering older heavy music, citing TikTok as a big factor in that surge.

A distribution executive agrees, saying “it’s almost like a cultural moment where younger rock fans are falling in love with older rock music, but mainly from this century. This era of heavy music and these bands are becoming the new classic rock for these kids.” Meanwhile, a label executive adds, “it’s the emo kids looking back and discovering bands like Deftones.”

Beyond TikTok, other contributors include the band’s active touring in 2022 and 2025 and festival appearances in other years. According to retailers, Warner is also aggressively stocking brick‑and‑mortar stores with Deftones vinyl and CDs. In fact, the band’s physical‑album sales in 2025 totaled 583,000 copies versus 31,000 in 2017, according to Luminate. Another source says Warner has been blanketing social media in its marketing efforts for the band. In fact, that source suggests that a Twitch promotion for Private Music last year also swelled streaming numbers.

Since the deal’s valuation couldn’t be sourced, Billboard built its own valuation model, looking at two different time periods. The valuation estimates take into account whether the deal occurred two years ago or more recently because, as mentioned, when the deal occurred would have an impact on the catalog’s valuation, considering the growth in Deftones’ music over the last three years, which, as mentioned, would have a significant impact on the catalog’s valuation.

If the deal happened as far back as two years ago, music‑asset traders most likely would have focused on the band’s catalog‑activity numbers from the 2020–2022 period. For that period, album‑consumption units averaged 416,000 annually in the U.S. and global streams averaged 634 million, so Billboard estimates that the Deftones catalog generated $6 million in income while their publishing was about $2 million.

Billboard speculates that if the band receives 25% of master‑recording royalties, that would produce $1.5 million in royalties, and if the royalties are divided equally among band members, that would mean the four selling members shared $1.2 million. Meanwhile, of the $2 million in annual publishing royalties Billboard estimates, if the band’s co‑publishing deal leaves it with 70% of that, they would receive $1.4 million in royalties. If the band divides those royalties equally among all five members, that would give the four selling members a net publishing value of about $1.12 million.

(While traditional publishing deals split royalties 50% to the writer and 50% to the publisher/rights owner, the split for a co‑publishing deal can range anywhere from 60% to 75% for the writer/co‑publisher versus 40% to 25% for the co‑publisher, depending on the advance amount paid to the songwriter.)

Adding the master‑recording and publishing royalties together leaves a net label/net publisher’s value of $2.32 million. If the sale achieved a high double‑digit multiple, say 18 times, that would mean a valuation of $41.8 million.

Now, suppose the sale occurred recently, so let’s look at the band’s catalog activity for the 2023–2025 period, using the same percentages as above from the 2020–2022 period, when the catalog averaged 1.322 million album‑consumption units annually.

Based on that activity, Billboard estimates the catalog produced annual revenue of about $18 million for that period — which, at a 25% royalty rate, comes to about $3.6 million annually for the four selling Deftones, assuming the five members split that amount equally.

Billboard further estimates that the Deftones master recordings generated about $5.8 million in annual publishing royalties, and if the band’s co‑publishing deal leaves it with 70% of that amount, they would receive $4 million in royalties, giving the four selling members a net publishing value of about $3.25 million.

Adding together Billboard’s estimates for master‑recording and publishing royalties comes to $6.85 million in net publisher/net label share. While the band may have wanted a high double‑digit valuation — which may have been achieved if the assets were sold two years ago — Billboard speculates that if sold recently, it’s more likely the band would have achieved a lower double‑digit multiple.

Why? Because music‑asset buyers are more cautious in buying music rights when a catalog still contains heavy hit activity, so predicting when decay will bottom out into a steady income stream is more tricky than buying a proven steady income stream that an older catalog generally produces. While the Deftones catalog doesn’t have big current hits fueling growth, surging activity due to older songs and albums is not yet so common that asset traders can reliably predict the decay curve, as they can for hit‑song activity.

Given the uncertainty around the income stream, Billboard speculates that something like an 11‑times multiple would come into play if it was a more recent deal, which would produce a valuation of about $75 million.

However, a source familiar with the deal as it was being shopped says Billboard’s estimates of financial “numbers are wrong.” Meanwhile, neither Warner Music Group nor Deftones’ management, Velvet Hammer, would comment on the numbers or confirm whether the deal even occurred.