BMG buys bundle of Tina Turner rights in music’s latest big-money deal – Music Business Worldwide

BMG has acquired what it calls “an extensive portfolio of rights” related to the music and image of Tina Turner.

The deal sees BMG acquire the artist’s share of her recordings, plus her music publishing writer’s share and neighboring rights, plus her name, image, and likeness.

Warner Music remains the record company for Turner’s catalog.

Interestingly, BMG has made the Tina Turner deal solo; the acquisition does not involve the joint fund that BMG launched with investment giant KKR earlier this year.

BMG isn’t putting a price on the deal, but has confirmed it’s the biggest single-artist rights acquisition that the Bertelsmann-owned company has made since it formed in 2008.

That means the Tina Turner deal has closed for a bigger price-tag than that which saw BMG acquire Mick Fleetwood’s career-spanning recorded music income stream in January.

Indeed, it seems a safe bet to MBW – considering the amount of fanfare swirling around the Tina Turner deal at BMG – that this latest acquisition is in the $50 million-and-above category.

The transaction covers Tina Turner´s solo works comprising ten studio albums, two live albums, two soundtracks, and five compilations, which together have sold over 100 million records.

Tina Turner said: “Like any artist, the protection of my life’s work, my musical inheritance, is something personal. I am confident that with BMG and Warner Music my work is in professional and reliable hands.”

BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch said: “Tina Turner’s musical journey has inspired hundreds of millions of people around the world and continues to reach new audiences.

“We are honored to take on the job of managing Tina Turner’s musical and commercial interests. It is a responsibility we take seriously and will pursue diligently.”

Hartwig Masuch, BMG

“We are honored to take on the job of managing Tina Turner’s musical and commercial interests. It is a responsibility we take seriously and will pursue diligently. She is truly and simply, the best.”

Tina Turner and her manager/husband Erwin Bach were advised in the transaction by the lawyers Torsten Siefert of Kiso Siefert Dropmann (Germany) and Bär & Karrer (Switzerland). BMG’s advisers included lawyers Lenz & Staehelin (Switzerland), Manatt, Phelps & Phillips (US), Simkins (UK), EY, and The Royalty Consultancy.

Tina Turner emerged as a solo artist in the early Eighties with worldwide hit albums such as Private Dancer, Break Every Rule and Foreign Affair and hit singles including What’s Love Got To Do With It, Private Dancer, We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome), Typical Male, I Don’t Wanna Fight, The Best and GoldenEye.

Tina Turner has received 12 Grammy Awards, has been inducted twice into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame, was the first black artist and the first female artist to feature on the cover of Rolling Stone, and was awarded the Légion d’honneur by the French Government.

Her life has been immortalized in at least three documentaries, including HBO’s 2021 production Tina. Her story was also featured in the 1993 film drama What’s Love Got To Do With It and in the stage musical Tina: The Tina Turner Musical which received a Tony Award and an Olivier Award.Music Business Worldwide