Is The Weeknd Seeking $1 Billion for His Catalog? Lyric Capital Reportedly Lines Up Investors for Massive Deal

How many sky-high valuations will the catalog craze fuel? The Weeknd is reportedly looking to turn his music IP into a staggering $1 billion payday.

Rumblings of the massive potential tie-up just recently entered the media spotlight. And unsurprisingly, neither the artist (real name Abel Tesfaye) nor the rumored investor, Spirit Music parent Lyric Capital, had commented publicly on the matter at the time of writing.

According to Bloomberg, however, talks are ongoing, and Lyric is working to assemble different investors to get in on the deal. It doesn’t really need saying given the latter’s size, but the possible agreement would extend to The Weeknd’s publishing as well as his recorded interests.

(As things stand, Universal Music-backed Chord Music Partners, itself poised to drop a sizable sum on song rights, is said to possess a 50% stake in The Weeknd’s publishing.)

The noted outlet didn’t mention any additional types of IP. Nevertheless, huge song-rights valuations have for obvious reasons coincided with a heightened focus on name, image, and likeness rights – besides an adjacent emphasis on non-traditional monetization.

In light of the $1 billion price tag, which is best taken with a grain of salt, the authorization of certain pre-defined usages doesn’t appear out of the question here. And at the very least, there will presumably be professional obligations and/or performance benchmarks in place for The Weeknd.

This leads to another interesting point: The growing embrace of newer IP in the red-hot catalog sector. Though legacy acts dominated related headlines for a while, the likes of Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, the Jonas Brothers, and other younger professionals have also cashed in on their song rights.

That the appropriate buyers must aggressively monetize the bodies of work for years to come isn’t exactly a secret. But the obligation doesn’t receive a ton of attention – generally or from the perspective of ever-shifting music preferences, the chance of waning listener interest, and the involved talent’s public perception.

In some ways, then, the listed catalog pacts are bets on individuals as well as song rights. (Assuming there’s weight to The Weeknd’s IP-selloff discussions, investors are presumably unbothered by his lackluster box office results and more pressing plans to retire his stage name.)

Back to Toronto-born The Weeknd’s possible deal, worth reiterating in conclusion is that New York City-based Lyric pulled down $500 million in 2021 funding from Toronto’s Northleaf Capital Partners and the Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund. An $800 million catalog-fund announcement followed in 2023.