Forum
Hi MJD. Recently Bob sold his catalogue to Universal Music Group for 300 million dollars. My question is, is it a wise move by UMG. I mean Dylan is doing well streaming wise for a 60s act. But his streaming isnt record breaking either. I understand how some investors wanted to invest in somebody's catalogue like Taylor Swift whose streaming are really record breaking. But for Bob Dylan is it even worth investing that much. Probably in the next few decades his streaming is going to shrink a lot as well after many of his fans died. No disrespect to him though as he is legendary. But was just curious how much will they get annually by buying his catalogue and is the chance of getting a return from this catalogue possible?
It was 400 m dollars, i mean that deal wìth Universal. You know Dylan is cultural person. He won most prestigious award Nobel prize literature. , all academic prizes. Oscar, Pulitzer and so on. Dylan music sales is good, most covered artist of all. And royalties per year $15-20 millions. 20 million x 20 year is 400 $ m. This is formula which it is calculated. Open business. And he still own his master recordings. Worth 300-400 $ million. And next year will open Bob Dylan Center. Oklahoma Tulsa. 4000 m2, three floors. No Wonderland.
I thing MJD didn't know that kind things. Checks eg. ZelebrityWorth. Allow to repaired. Musicbusinessworldwide, Ajournal A. Cross. There is business information. And Rolling Stone magazine.
Ok. That's it. One question yet. Original CSPC Dylan wasn't at all in France so popular.
I wrote in the wrong place again. Ok. That's it. One question yet. Original CSPC Dylan was't all in France so popular, maybe 1960s. Why change?
Hi Johnny be Good!
Here are the 15 biggest tracks of Bob Dylan (in Equivalent Album Sales):
1. 1965 - Like a Rolling Stone [Highway 61 Revisited] - 14,220,000
2. 1964 - The Times They Are a-Changin' [The Times They Are a-Changin'] - 9,210,000
3. 1975 - Hurricane [Desire] - 7,790,000
4. 1973 - Knockin' on Heaven's Door [Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid] - 6,730,000
5. 1969 - Lay Lady Lay [Nashville Skyline] - 6,580,000
6. 1963 - Blowin' in the Wind [The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan] - 4,530,000
7. 1965 - Mr. Tambourine Man [Bringing It All Back Home] - 4,310,000
8. 1975 - Tangled Up in Blue [Blood on the Tracks] - 3,210,000
9. 1966 - I Want You [Blonde on Blonde] - 3,100,000
10. 1967 - All Along the Watchtower [John Wesley Harding] - 3,000,000
11. 1963 - Don't Think Twice, It's All Right [The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan] - 2,960,000
12. 1974 - Forever Young [Planet Waves] - 2,440,000
13. 1975 - Shelter from the Storm [Blood on the Tracks] - 2,200,000
14. 1963 - Girl from the North Country [The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan] - 2,130,000
15. 1965 - Subterranean Homesick Blues [Bringing It All Back Home] - 2,000,000
Moi Anthony. Now Like a rolling stone is up 17, 815,000 and rest songs are differs...
Moi Anthony. New list. Like a rolling stone 16 815.000. Four songs was over ten million.
Bob Dylan biggest track is now Like a rolling stone 16 815,000. Ten songs over 10 million EAS.
Hello Mikko!
Our results are differents. How did you calculate yours?
In my case, I took the values from the article and add the EAS gained since then.
Then, I tried to put the new stream values instead the old one in my files in order to calculate the new share of each song in each album/compil/live/box and it seems. Results are a bit different compared to a simple addition of new streams since the article but:
- "Like a Rolling Stone" is still under 14.5m EAS
- It is the only Dylan track to reach the 10m EAS milestone. The second is "The Times They Are a-Changin'" with approx 8m EAS
So, I do not understand the methodology you used. Have you make your own estimations? Another way to calculate? Thank you for answer me I am curious to know 🙂
Oh that's strange, in the previous message only 4 songs were over 10m EAS. Maybe some millions were sold in a few minutes?
I am very, VERY curious to see your methodoly, if you have one. Maybe it is the case, maybe not and you write random figures?
I don't know, but it was MJD new all time, and every year forward 1965 like a rolling stone, 16.815.000 it was third from 1965 album EAS.
"Highway 61 Revisited" (the album) has cumulated 16.815m EAS since its release in 1965. "Like a Rolling Stone" (the song) has reached 14.220m EAS.
Hi Jazz!
Mikko is correct, record sales and streams are only the visible part of artists' revenues. Each time a song airs on the radio there are royalties. On TV ads or shows, live, on movies, etc. All covers and all side businesses.
When speaking about these catalog purchases, we shouldn't think about charts & sales, but instead think of it as an investment. What matters is the return on it. If you have $400 million, you'll be able to put them into a lot of project/businesses, the choice will be made based on two things, the return on investment expected and the risk. A catalog like the one of Dylan brings little risk. The revenue is safe year after year, not even speaking about what will happen when he will pass away. When an investment is safe in the long run, you can accept a lower yearly return, since time works for you. Even if revenues from Dylan's catalog slow down a bit, it will only take a bit longer to be profitable, and then you can easily expect his passing or more popular covers or exposures on movies that can boost your revenue very fast.
