Rock musician Frank Zappa plays guitar during a performance at the Warner Theatre in Washington, U.S., February 1988. Image: Reuters/Stringer
Universal Music Group (UMG.AS) on Thursday announced an agreement to acquire rock guitarist and composer Frank Zappa’s catalog of music, recordings and film archive for an undisclosed fee.
Big-name artists such as Bob Dylan, Sting and Neil Diamond in the recent past have sold their catalogs to music labels, helping them generate more revenue from licensing, brand deals and royalties.
The label said its music publishing arm Universal Music Publishing Group will receive Zappa’s publishing catalog including album “Joe’s Garage,” songs “Cosmik Debris” and “Uncle Remus,” among others.
Over the last decade, UMG’s global catalog company Universal Music Enterprises and The Zappa Trust reissued many of Zappa’s iconic albums on vinyl and made his catalog of music available for streaming and download.
UMG, which also represents and collects royalties for artists such as Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Korean pop group BTS, had said in May they expect the boom in the music streaming industry to continue. JB
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