Pop icon Britney Spears has sold the rights to her entire music catalogue to independent publisher Primary Wave for an estimated $200 million, according to media reports.
Spears, 44, reportedly finalized the deal on December 30. Neither Primary Wave nor representatives for the singer have publicly commented on the agreement, and the exact financial details have not been officially disclosed.
The Grammy-winning artist is known for global hits such as ...Baby One More Time, Oops!... I Did It Again, Toxic and Gimme More. She has released nine studio albums since her 1999 debut and has sold more than 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling female artists of all time.
In January 2024, Spears said she would “never return to the music industry.” Her most recent musical release was a 2022 duet with Elton John.
Primary Wave, founded two decades ago by music executive Lawrence Mestel, has also acquired stakes in the estates or catalogues of major artists including Prince, Whitney Houston and Notorious BIG.
Spears joins a growing list of high-profile musicians who have sold their catalogues in recent years. Bruce Springsteen sold his back catalogue to Sony in 2021 in a deal reportedly worth $500 million, while Justin Bieber signed a deal valued at around $200 million in 2023.
The sale follows a turbulent period in Spears’ life. In 2021, she ended a 13-year conservatorship that gave her father control over her finances and personal affairs. She later detailed her experiences in her 2023 memoir The Woman in Me.
With inputs from BBC