Britney Spears has sold the rights to her iconic music catalog, multiple sources confirmed to Rolling Stone.
Primary Wave will now take over Spears’ ownership share of her many hit songs, including “…Baby One More Time,” “Oops!… I Did It Again,” “(You Drive Me) Crazy,” “I’m a Slave 4 U,” “Lucky,” “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman,” among many others.
The deal, which was first reported by TMZ, is said to have been inked on Dec. 30. It is not clear how much Spears sold her rights for, but a source told the outlet it was on par with Justin Bieber’s reported $200 million deal to sell his back catalog to Hipgnosis Songs Capital in 2023.
Rolling Stone has reached out to representatives for Spears and Primary Wave for further comment.
Primary Wave has been in the business of snapping up catalogs from some of music’s biggest names. Last March, they bought a 50 percent stake in The Notorious B.I.G.’s estate, and in the past have reached deals with the estates for Whitney Houston, Bob Marley, Prince, and Cars leader Ric Ocasek. In 2020, Stevie Nicks sold her publishing rights to the company.
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Acquisition deals can be extremely lucrative for artists, allowing them to receive a significant payout and relieving them of the time-consuming responsibility of overseeing an entire estate and catalog of music.
Spears, who was released from a controversial 13-year conservatorship in 2021, has not released a studio album since 2016’s Glory. Although she recently announced that she wouldn’t perform in the United States again, Spears hasn’t sworn off making new music. In 2022, she collaborated with Elton John for the single “Hold Me Closer,” and in 2023 released “Mind Your Business” with Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am.
