The musical coup of the century was scored by Vivendi, through its subsidiary Universal Music Publishing Group, a division of Universal Music, the world's first major record company. Umpg has acquired Bob Dylan's entire music catalogue. The official terms of the deal weren't disclosed, as was the figure, but according to the New York Times it would be a deal worth about 300 million dollars.
A historic agreement that represents the largest acquisition of copyright for a single artist in history. No coincidence that Universal defined it “the most significant agreement of this century”. A comment that in this case has nothing excessive. In fact, they are at the center of the agreement over 600 songs released over the past 60 years by one of the greatest songwriters in the history of world music. A catalog that includes milestones such as "Blowin' in the wind", "Like a Rolling Stones", "Tangled Up in Blue", "Times are Changing", up to the epic "Murder most foul", a track of 16 minutes published in March 2020 which anticipated the release of the latest album of the rock minstrel, entitled Rough and Rowdy Ways.
The agreement was signed directly with Dylan, who for years controlled most of his copyrights, while their administration was in the hands of Sony Atv, the Sony Music publishing company to which Dylan was historically linked through the contract with subsidiary Columbia Records.
“Representing the entire output of one of the greatest songwriters of all time, whose cultural importance is impossible to overestimate, is both a privilege and a responsibility – commented Jody Gerson, president and chief executive officer of UMPG – Umpg's global team is honored to be Bob Dylan's publishing partner. We look forward to working with Bob and his team to ensure his art continues to reach and inspire generations of fans, singers and songwriters around the world."
“I have no doubts – noted Lucian Grainge, president and CEO of Universal – that for decades, if not centuries, Bob Dylan's words and music will continue to be sung, played and appreciated everywhere”.
The songs of Bob Dylan, awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016, have been recorded more than 6 times around the world. Since the beginning of his career Dylan has sold more than 125 million records and from the end of the 80s to before the stop due to Covid, he performed about 100 concerts a year as part of his "Never Ending tour" .
