Britney Spears sells rights to her music catalogue: U.S. media

Britney Spears arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," on July 22, 2019. (Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP)

Britney Spears has become the latest musician to sell the rights to her catalogue that includes hits like “...Baby One More Time” and “Oops!...I Did It Again,” U.S. media reported Tuesday.

The deal is believed to be worth around US$200 million, according to sources cited by celebrity site TMZ, though it said the exact amount is not detailed in legal documents.

That sum would be comparable to the sale of Canadian singer Justin Bieber’s catalogue in 2023.

Spears, 44, joins a growing list of artists who have sold their music rights in recent years including Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, as well as Shakira and KISS.

U.S. media reported that the rights were bought by music publisher Primary Wave, whose portfolio includes the works of Whitney Houston, Bob Marley, Prince and others.

Owners of a song’s publishing rights receive payment for every broadcast, album sale or use in advertising and films.

The growing music rights market allows artists to monetize their catalogues, which are attractive long-term assets for investors in the streaming era.

Major labels like Sony, Universal and Warner have also expanded in this line of business, alongside specialist investors Recognition Music Group and Concord Music Publishing.

Spears shot to fame in the late 1990s but has largely stepped back from the music scene in recent years.

In 2021, a U.S. court terminated a 13-year conservatorship that had allowed Spears’s father to control her finances -- an arrangement the singer had described as abusive.