Sting Sells His Songwriting Catalog for an Estimated $300 Million

Olivia Newton-John 100 million to Primary Wave

Tina Turner and ONJ are not songwriters. What did they sell?

Olivia owns the rights to all of her master recordings and publishing.

Correction: OWNED Primary Wave owns her catalog now.

And poor Taylor Swift had hers taken away from her and is forced to re-record everything to make up for the lost profits? I still like the story of Michael Jackson asking advice from Paul McCartney during their Ebony and Ivory days and Paul suggesting the great value of ownership of music catalogs. And then Michael turned around and purchased those of the the Beatles. I don’t remember who he ended up selling it to as he spiraled down in financial prospects?

Same with Stevie Nicks and Prince

Many recording artists do not own publishing or master recordings when signed to large independent or major labels

It's the new reverse mortgage for senior rock stars.

What about Miss Mitchell?

Stevie Nicks got 100 mil for 80 % of her music rights

Interesting article from RS

I’m surprised that Sting’s music $300m worth much less than Bruce $500M

I’m surprised Sting’s is worth more than Bowie’s and Neil’s!

I was going to say Neil Young got robbed, but it was for half his catalog.

This all makes me wonder how much the Richards and Jagger's catalog is worth. It's much more extensive than the others except Dylan's and their music is much more recognizable around the world than the other artists. $1B? Would they sell or pass it along to their children?

It’s be wonderful to know how much of the following music catalogs are worth: Elvis, RS, Elton Johns, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Madonna. Elvis, Michael and Madonna’s probably worth more than one billion

Sting is worth about $400 million, not sure if that's just for his music. Sting also has a successful wine and olive oil business which is run out of his Il Palagio estate in Tuscany. He sure doesn't need to do this.

I do know that most of his adult children are unemployed, so, I can kind of understand why he's selling his song catalog.

Sting's eldest son is 45 and has 4 kids. Sting and Trudie remain married because he knows how much of his money she'd get if they ever divorce. He endures her bullshit, he allows her to live her life, which includes having sex with women. Trudie is a truly horrible woman, she's so fake and haughty. Trudie grew up dirt poor, in a rural part of the UK, with an outside toilet, yet, she acts like she's from royalty.

Trudie has lied so much about her backstory. She was an escort in London, she downplays so much about her real background. Trudie worked at a London 'gentlemans club' which was frequented by rich Middle Eastern men, yet claims she was only a waitress. Sure Jan.

Sting's first wife, Irish actress Frances Tomelty, must be kicking herself. Frances married Sting when he was poor, she was literally sleeping on floors when they first moved to London, this was before Sting's success.

Frances' BFF (they met while in the RSC) was Trudie Styler! Trudie set her eyes on Sting, then, after he became rich and famous, she lured him away from Frances. Trudie even went as far as moving next door to Sting and Frances when they lived in London.

R16 how do you all this? 😒

Queen must be worth more than anyone including MJ

R5 Taylor was more than willing to leave her masters behind until she found out Scooter Braun was in position to buy her old label. Her re-recording her old material is just an FU to him.

I had an old Sears wishbook catalog from 1975 in mint condition that I sold on ebay for $75 plus shipping a few months back.

There's also a pizza and wine bar on Sting's Tuscany property.

Make that 💰💵 Stingo!

[quote][R16] how do you all this? 😒

I work in the music biz, have for many years. I also know people who know Sting and his family personally.

Trudie is insufferable. I can deal with Sting's bullshit, because he's extremely talented, not sure what Trudie does these days, she claims to be a 'producer'. Trudie brings little to the table and that includes money.

Many years ago, a female friend, who was dating one of the touring musicians in Sting's band, stayed at Sting's Central Park West duplex, which has since been sold. Trudie was so annoying and nasty to her guests, my friend and her BF left to stay at a hotel.

R22 are you a woman cuz you sound like one? I don’t know Sting and his family personally but I do think you bear some kind of hatred towards his wife. Do you secretly like Sting?

Or are you Frances?

[quote][R22] are you a woman cuz you sound like one? I don’t know Sting and his family personally but I do think you bear some kind of hatred towards his wife. Do you secretly like Sting?

You sir, are a moron or just another fucking troll who has permeated DL over the past few years. No, not a woman, I'm a gay man whose has been at DL since around 1999. Funny thing, you actually sound like woman, a gay man wouldn't give a flying shit about my comments re Trudie.

Are you a Trudie fan, have I hurt your sensibilities? Ruined you image of Trudie?

The case of Sting and his first wife Frances is not an anomaly. Lots of successful men leave their first wives, the women who stood by them when they had nothing, they 'upgrade' or so they think they do. Sting thought he was trading up with Trudie, but she's sure no trophy wife. That's all I'm at liberty to say. I've actually said too much.

Do I "like' Sting? I know him too well to 'like' him'. No dear, there's no crush, no love. I have a handsome and kind long term partner, but thanks for the amateur psychologist take on things and the sleuting. You're ridiculous.

Frances has better things to do than come to DL, don't be an idiot. Frances was fantastic in a guest role on the PBS series, "Unforgotten", why not step away from the computer and check out her episodes?

[quote] And poor Taylor Swift had hers taken away from her and is forced to re-record everything to make up for the lost profits

Poor, poor Taylor, the poor thing.

$300 for Every Breath You Take? That's his only known song. Stupid investment of $300 mm.

Yeah, Taylor is so poor, she has a $30 million dollar Soho loft, awww, poor thing.

I've heard all the same thigs about Trudie that are on this thread. Horrible, nasty woman.

[quote]$300 for Every Breath You Take? That's his only known song. Stupid investment of $300 mm

Yet another moronic DL post. I should not be surprised.

There are so many clueless people posting nonsense here. I almost have to feel bad for them.

Sting still sells a lot of his music, whether solo or his work with The Police.

I wouldn’t spend a dollar on Springsteen’s catalog. Never like his music. Ditto, Bob Dylan.

Sting used to loved to boast he wasn’t leaving his kids any money! That was in the 80s. He’d say “I will not build a cocoon for another human being.” So much for that!

I believe what the poster above said Sting’s marriage. He always seems to be trying hard to convince the public he has this great relationship: The tantric stuff, the “we love to dress up and enjoy the theatricality of sex,” they never spend time apart, etc. It always rang false to me.

Someone on here said Sting has or had a long term thing with Helena Christiansen…or was it Rachel Weisz? I can’t recall.

Sting is the one responsible for that incessantly bad Dessert Rose song. He should be paying ME money.

I wonder if we will hear this music in more advertisements, like toilet cleaners “every turd you make”, etc.

The economics of music is pretty confusing overall. I wish I paid more attention in music class now.

I just bought "Roxanne" for my ringtone!

Hasn't Sting been stung by sexual assault claims ? He isn't cancelled ?

[quote]Someone on here said Sting has or had a long term thing with Helena Christiansen…or was it Rachel Weisz? I can’t recall.

Think you are confusing Sting with Bono, he was supposedly involved with Helena Christiansen. Then, someone posted here that Bono's wife Ali Hewson was actually having an affair with Helena or maybe they were having threesomes. Rachel Weisz likes the ladies, so maybe it was Trudie and Rachel?

Sting was photographed leaving a brothel in Spain. His marriage isn't as great as he'd like his fans to believe.

I’m surprised the last living Bee Gee hasn’t sold his rights, he’d be rich as Croesus.

[quote]Sting used to loved to boast he wasn’t leaving his kids any money! That was in the 80s. He’d say “I will not build a cocoon for another human being.” So much for that!

Sting is so full of shit about not supporting his kids, he sure is supporting them.

His eldest daughter Fuschia Kate is 39 and doesn't appear to have any sort of job. She's supposedly an actress and producer, but all she posts at her IG are pics of her travels and selfies in her silly outfits. Apparently, she lives in London and LA.

Sting and Trudie's lesbian daughter, Elliot Coco, is a pretty good singer and bassist, she sounds like Sting, but her music, like her brother Joe's, hasn't found an audience. Elliot also seems to be supported by Sting, she lives in an apartment in London.

No wonder Sting is selling his catalog, he knows some of his kids will never work, but they sure love the jet-set life his career has afforded them. Elliot is close friends with the actor Justin Theroux, she had some vacation pics of them posted at her IG.

I'm not even sure what Sting's two youngest sons do, one dabbled as a model.

[quote] I’m surprised Sting’s is worth more than Bowie’s and Neil’s!

Agree. Maybe Sting sold a greater share of his rights than Bowie.

How long will it be before he starts bitching about not being able to control his own work? Which he sold.

Why is Neil Diamond hanging on to his catalog?

Paula Abdul sold hers for 140 million.

R43 Link? I did a search and found fucking nothing. She’s lucky enough to sell it for $1M

Paula Abdul sold hers for $140 million!? loooool

Stop trolling, she probably didn't even write any of her rubbish songs.

Why would you sell your catalog if you already have a net worth of $400 million? I don't get this. These people are already rich as fuck and can afford lavish lifestyles, houses and vacations without selling their rights. Isn't it better to keep your rights so your children and grandchildren have a steady yearly income over the next decades? They probably get millions in royalties every year or does he want to buy a $100 million super yacht, give the money to charity or something?

Greed

[quote]Why would you sell your catalog if you already have a net worth of $400 million? I don't get this. These people are already rich as fuck and can afford lavish lifestyles, houses and vacations without selling their rights. Isn't it better to keep your rights so your children and grandchildren have a steady yearly income over the next decades? They probably get millions in royalties every year or does he want to buy a $100 million super yacht, give the money to charity or something?

It might be better to keep the rights of his songs within the family, but who knows what Sting is thinking. I do remember, years ago, he lost millions due to an unscrupulous lawyer.

Sting has two adult children with his first wife and four with Trudie. If anyone is greedy, it's Trudie. In an interview, Sting was once complaining Trudie purchased so many super expensive designer clothes which she never wore and were still tagged. He suggested they be auctioned off for a charity.

As far as I know, Sting doesn't own a super yacht, but he does own about 7-9 residences.

Currently, Sting owns a NYC penthouse apartment worth around $66 million (he sold yet another NYC property a few years ago for around $27 million, as well as a smaller duplex he owned on CPW and yet another loft near Prince Street, he then went on to buy yet another apartment NYC, hard to keep track as Sting flips his NYC real estate like some people use Kleenex, there was yet another apartment near the High Line, not sure if he still owns that place), a house in the Hamptons, a townhouse in the St. James area of London, a huge 16th century manor house in Wiltshire which includes a private lake, the Tuscany estate where the wine/oil business is run, there was yet another home in Ireland, not sure if he still owns that residence.

It sure takes a lot of $$$$ to maintain all these residences, they all have a staff he has to pay.

I explained it several times, Sting's children are used to growing up wealthy, his oldest son, now 45, was a toddler when Sting first became rich and famous.

Sting likely feels, is he leaves his adult children nothing or a little money, none of his children will be able to deal with real life. They sure don't seem able to deal with it now. Sting has 6 adult children. One actress daughter is the only one who seems to consistently work, she's been in two films with Greta Gerwig and is currently on the TV series 'Snowpiercer".

At 70, Sting is still working. He puts out a new record every few years, tours and he runs a successful oil and wine business out of his Tuscany estate.

I would be a terrible miser of a spouse/parent if I made megamillions, I would not be able to stand anyone else spending my money like water. You can live in my giant mansions, eat great food with me, and I’ll buy you nice gifts. Otherwise, get a job.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Yes R50, Trudie is one self-absorbed narcissistic delusional crazy bitch. Miss Trudie got angry because the cook wasn't there to make her spoiled brats some SOUP.

Remember, Trudie grew up without indoor plumbing, her family had an outhouse!

Healthcare insurance in the US is expensive and even people with healthcare get all sorts of surprise and very high bills, healthcare in the US can bankrupt many people.

Sting's actress daughter, Mickey Sumner, lives in California, the socialized medicine health plan she might have in the UK, sure cannot help her in the US. This daughter has a disabled son and is divorced from the son's father.

Pretty sure Sting is contributing to whatever extra medical bills his grandchild has.

There are so many loopholes in US health insurance plans, an industry which makes billions in profits yearly. I can imagine how so much of that child's health care isn't covered by US health insurance.

Whatever happened to just running a fish farm?

[Quote]It might be better to keep the rights of his songs within the family, but who knows what Sting is thinking.

His youngest son is only 25yo. If Sting needs money to take care of his family and most of them are lazy entitled fucks, doesn't it make sense to give them a steady income instead of handing out a one-time lump sum? Some of his kids could live another 60+ years so selling your catalog seems like a dumb idea when his whole family is on his payroll.

[quote]Some of his kids could live another 60+ years so selling your catalog seems like a dumb idea when his whole family is on his payroll.

Not if he's going to invest part or all of that $300 million. It takes money to make even more money. How do you think rich people get wealthier?

This isn't solely about his kids upkeep, while Sting is still alive, he will continue to pay the various people he has managing his larger households. This kind of lifestyle takes a lot of money.

I think you could count on one hand the number of rich and famous celebrities who have kids who AREN'T leeches. Most of them live off their parents' wealth.

When you have Sting's level of wealth, maintaining your finances, investments, and multiple properties is practically a full-time job.

[quote]How do you think rich people get wealthier?

Graft, corruption and being Republican.

R54 the point is Sting will make more bank investing the money than he will from royalties. The music business does not make money anymore.

All these people have been told to cash in because it won't provide that income stream in the future to their heirs.

You can call up nearly anything for free (or just watching ads). Who will be buying this music up ahead?

Likely they are all moving into tangible assets.

[quote]$300 for Every Breath You Take? That's his only known song. Stupid investment of $300 mm

I hope for your sake you're smarter in some endeavor than you are in music. Stultifyingly, horrifyingly ignorant.

I think you really have to work at managing a music catalog in order to generate that kind of wealth. Why not take the lump sum and let someone else do the hard part?

ELton John and Bernie Taupin won’t sell their catalogue for less than a billion each.

It’s a shame that the women get lowballed. 80 million to Stevie yet Brice Springsteen gets 500 mil for pretty much two songs that were hits 40 years ago?

Madonna’s music catalog would worth 2 billions at least

Never Forget

R65 2 billion what?

I like Coco. She is very charismatic. Not meant to be a super star but successful in her own way.

Stevie’s value is probably hurt by her not controlling the rights to her FM stuff. Bruce is able to sell all his eras of music.

Madonna didn't write a lot of her earlier hits.

Sting sells sea shells by the seashore…

[quote]why would you sell your catalog if you already have a net worth of $400 million? I don't get this.

Getting the money upfront, to invest and do what you want with it while still alive, is a huge benefit. Otherwise, you're leaving a huge responsibility to your pampered children, most of whom (most rock star offspring) wouldn't know how to manage it. Taking care of the rights to these large, popular music catalogs is a full time job, usually for an entire office of people and managers.

Most of these rock stars have multiple children from multiple relationships. How would they get all of their kids to agree on how to manage everything? The potential for future turmoil is immense. In this light it makes good sense to sell out before death.

r72 explains it well. It will avoid disaster in the future, to prevent the stupid spoiled idiot children from waging war on each other and pissing everything away.

Elliot 'Coco' Sumner's voice sounds a lot like her fathers, it's actually deeper and huskier. The problem is, her music isn't very good,. When she recorded other musicians songs, her music was more interesting. IIRC, she also did a few tracks wit the German pop singer Robyn.

Coco needs to team up with a good songwriter, she needs to better utilize her voice and bass talents.

Coco's image is more masculine than androgynous, she basically looks like Sting with long dark hair. Elliot's look reminds of me her father's bass hero, the late great Weather Report bassist Jaco Pastorious.

Coco on vacation with Justin Theroux.

Sting would've gotten more, but he was forced to include "Fields of Gold".

[quote]Most of these rock stars have multiple children from multiple relationships. How would they get all of their kids to agree on how to manage everything? The potential for future turmoil is immense. In this light it makes good sense to sell out before death.

Since there is so much money involved, in Sting's case, his two eldest two children from his first marriage, Joe and Fuschia, have made peace with their four half-siblings Sting had with Trudie. If there is any problem, it's the greedy Trudie, not the kids.

Here's Sting's eldest son Joe, his dark haired sister Fuschia is to the right. Joe's blond wife Kate is on the left side of the photo. Joe's half sister, the actress Mickey Sumner, is holding her disabled son. There are tons of photos showing all ofd Sting's kids together.

There are also grandchildren involved, Joe Sumner already has four kids. IIRC, his wife recently had another baby, though, I cannot confirm that.

You have to wonder how man who doesn't have a steady income can have wife and four kids. Joe does work as a musician, but he barely breaks even.

Let me try this again, for some reason, the photo wasn't attached.

Here's Sting's eldest son Joe, his dark haired sister Fuschia is to the right. Joe's blond wife Kate is on the left side in the photo.

Joe's half sister, the actress Mickey Sumner, is near Joe, who is holding her disabled son. There are tons of photos showing Sting's kids together.

Here's a nice photo of Elliot Coco with her half-sister Fuschia Kate.

Fuschia looks exactly like her mom, actress Frances Tomelty.

What does everyone think about naming your kid Fuschia? I have to say I really like it.

I’ve always preferred Chartreuse myself.

Sting's music sold for more than Bowie's? That is surprising.

Can he buy Uruguay now ?

Seven figures is all he wrote . . . .

R83 does he have 154 billions in the bank?

I guess he could buy an acre or two. What about starting a disco?

[quote]What does everyone think about naming your kid Fuschia? I have to say I really like it.

Sting named his first daughter Fuschia after the Fuschia character in "Gormenghast".

Sting supposedly bought the rights to the book and wanted to star in a film version, before he got around to do that, he was too old. Jonathan Rhys Meyers was in the TV version.

Sting sure did sell his catalogue and the ad agencies sure didn't waste any time using his songs.

I just saw a Lincoln commercial, "Walking on the Moon" was used, not The Police version, it was a a female singer. I didn't recognize her voice.

Elton was never considered the King of Pop. Please stop.

Also, Stevie still owns 20% of the rights to her songs. Her deal was good.

Had to bump this thread.

Just saw a HORRIBLE TV ad, using The Police's "Every Breath You Take" for some new search engine which protects your online information.

The music sounds exactly like The Police's original track, with someone else singing new lyrics over the music about protecting your information online. Was a horrific commercial.

Sting must be incredibly desperate to allow his music to be used in this manner. Especially as he's always been dead serious about his music.

FYI, The Police was the first rock band Sting ever played in. Before The Police, he played bass in a Newcastle based jazz band. Stewart Copeland discovered Sting while his band was on tour in Newcastle, Stu saw Sting's talent immediately. The rest is history.

R17 that nasty gay cunt R16 repeats the same boring exhaustive details about horrible Trudie Styler multiple times a year on datalounge.

The opinion, or ideas, of some of the half-baked members of this forum are a real joke. This has always been true when the subject has anything to do with music.

In the above, it has been stated that the Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen catalogs are worth 1 dollar, and Madonna's catalog is worth 2 billion dollars.

People really do not even have a clue on this forum !

When is Mr. Britney Spears going to sell his wife's catalogue? I bet he can get 100 million.

He did not age well

R95, if you are talking about Sting, I think he has aged very well.

[quote][R17] that nasty gay cunt [R16] repeats the same boring exhaustive details about horrible Trudie Styler multiple times a year on datalounge.

[bold]WHO the mother-fuck are YOU to tell ANYONE what to post on DL???? [/bold]

DL is mostly a gossip forum, what do you not understand about that FACT? You sound like a dumb empty-headed whore! You must be NEW here.

All that Trudie tea is very OLD news, but there are now so many stupid young whores like YOU now at DL, information MUST be repeated ad nauseum, because the newbie dumb whores here do not know shit about certain older celebs.

Because of idiots like YOU, people must re-post a lot of information morons like YOU don't know about, especially about older celebrities such as Sting who is pushing 70 or already there!

Sting spends way too much time in the sun, he looks so crispy.

Trudie's awful plastic surgery looks like Katherine Helmond's character in "Brazil'!

Did he ever buy some bath soap and deodorant with that 300Mill?

Sting and Springsteen got more than Bowie?????????

R100: that surprised me too.

"Trudie? I think she's TREMENDOUS!"

What happens if someone sells their music for big bucks, and 6 months later they have some controversy like pedophilia, etc. and people stop listening to their music? I bet there's a morality clause in there somewhere.

[quote]Sting and Springsteen got more than Bowie?????????

Songwriting catalogs are stable assets that generate consistent revenues from radio play, disc sales, streaming and placement in movies, TV shows and commercials.

It's likely that it's a combination of both historical revenues and some estimate for future based on carving up the catalog into tranches by something like top 10, top 20, top 100 chart performance.