Deadmau5 Speaks Out on Selling His Catalog: ‘It Was Time to Just Let It Go’

Three months after the announcement that deadmau5 sold his catalog to Create Music Group for $55 million, the producer has commented on the deal.

“It was time to just let it go,” the producer born Joel Zimmerman said in a June 2 cover story alongside Rezz for Billboard Canada. “I’m not so attached to [my catalogue] that I think it would’ve been some huge asset 20 or 30 years down the line.”

Along with his own body of work, which spans the master recordings and publishing of more than 4,000 songs including classics such as “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff,” “The Veldt” and “Strobe,” the deal included the catalog of mau5trap, the label deadmau5 founded in 2007 and which has released music by a litany of artists including Rezz, Lamorn, Spencer Brown, Tinlicker, Rinzen and Kx5, deadmau5’s collaborative project with Kaskade.

“I mean, I’m sure they’ll make all their money back and more,” deadmau5 continued to Billboard Canada. “But for me, it was just time to reel everything back in, throw some money back into production for the next couple of years and then start over. So, nothing changes. I’m still writing new music and doing everything I do.”

As reported by Billboard in March, the catalog deal includes start of a joint venture between the artist and Create Music Group to release future recordings from deadmau5 and mau5trap.

As part of the deal, Create Music Group will also remaster and re-release core elements of the catalog, release exclusive new content and generally work to present mau5trap to new audiences. The collaboration will also look at opportunities within licensing and brand partnerships.