Katy Perry has sold the rights to her five studio albums released under Capitol Records between 2008 and 2020 to Litmus Music, the music rights company backed by the private-equity company Carlyle Group.
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The company reportedly paid $225 million for Perry’s stake in the music publishing rights and master recording royalties of her five albums—One of the Boys, her Grammy-nominated 2010 release Teenage Dream, PRISM, Witness, and her more recent 2020 release, Smile.
Under the deal, Litmus did not acquire Perry’s 2001 Christian rock debut, which she released under her real name, Katy Hudson.
Perrys’ deal also includes her 16 multi-platinum singles, including her breakout 2008 No. 1 songs, “I Kissed A Girl” and “Hot n Cold.” In 2010, Perry also became the first woman and the second artist ever (after Michael Jackson) to place songs from the same album on the Hot 100, which included her Teenage Dream hits “California Gurls,” “Firework,” “E.T.,” “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” and the title track.
“Katy Perry is a creative visionary who has made a major impact across music, TV, film, and philanthropy,” said Dan McCarroll, co-founder and chief creative officer of Litmus, in a statement. McCarroll, who first connected with Perry in 2010 when he was president of Capitol Records, continued “I’m so honored to be partnering with her again and to help Litmus manage her incredible repertoire.”
[RELATED: 6 Songs You Didn’t Know Katy Pery Wrote for Other Artists]
Hank Forsyth, Litmus co-founder and chief executive officer, added “Katy’s songs are an essential part of the global cultural fabric. We are so grateful to be working together again with such a trusted partner whose integrity shines in everything that she does.”
Calling Perry one of “the world’s top artists,” Matt Settle, managing director at Carlyle said: “Katy’s iconic songs have not only achieved outstanding commercial success but have significantly influenced popular culture.”
Perry’s catalog sale follows the most recent big rights sale in 2023 with Justin Bieber’s catalog sold to Hipgnosis Songs Capital.
Launched in August of 2022, Litmus previously acquired the recording and publishing rights of artists crossing multiple genres, including country artist Keith Urban and producer Benny Blanco.
Additionally, Katy Perry is making headlines for her relationship with ex Russell Brand. Brand is being accused of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse by four women. Perry has not addressed the recent allegations but spoke of their split with Vogue in 2013.
“He’s a very smart man, and I was in love with him when I married him,” Perry said in 2013. “Let’s just say I haven’t heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me on December 31, 2011.
“At first when I met him he wanted an equal, and I think a lot of times strong men do want an equal, but then they get that equal and they’re like, I can’t handle the equalness,” she continued. “He didn’t like the atmosphere of me being the boss on tour. So that was really hurtful, and it was very controlling, which was upsetting.”
Photo: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
