SANTA MONICA—On Wednesday, November 2, Universal Music Publishing Group announced they have attained the rights to the entirety of Prince’s song catalog.
“We’re humbled to be entrusted with Prince’s catalog and I’m grateful to my entire team for their work in making this agreement a reality,” stated Jody Gerson, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group.
The American-French music corporation’s global headquarters are located in Santa Monica and is part of the large conglomerate, Vivendi. They have operations in over 60 countries throughout the world. UMG represents some of the biggest names in music including: Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, and Stevie Wonder.
The publishing group is working with Prince’s estate to determine how they will proceed. The singer, who died at the age of 57 on April 21, 2016 from an overdose of the opioid fentanyl, did not leave a will according to reports.
Prince was signed to Warner Bros. Records from the late 1970s until 1996 when “Chaos and Disorder” was released. In April 2014, Prince re-signed with Warner Bros., and their union continued up until his death. Before news of UMG’s acquisition of Prince’s music rights, WBR had scheduled a release of a 40-track compilation of the singer’s works for November 22, 2016, as well as a subsequent release in 2017 of a deluxe-edition of “Purple Rain” and previously unreleased songs by Prince.
