Paul Simon has sold his song catalogue to Sony Music Publishing for an undisclosed sum.
The publishing arm of the music label giant announced Wednesday (March 31) that it now holds rights to songs such as ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, ‘The Sound Of Silence’, ‘Mrs. Robinson’, ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’, among others.
Simon’s deal with Sony covers his work in Simon and Garfunkel as well as his solo material. Simon has won 16 Grammy awards throughout his career.
This follows deals made by other established artists as of late, including Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Neil Young, Lindsay Buckingham, Blondie and David Crosby – all of whom have sold rights to their catalogues, in part or full, to various labels’ publishing arms and companies.
“I’m pleased to have Sony Music Publishing be the custodian of my songs for the coming decades,” Simon says in a press statement. “I began my career at Columbia/Sony Records and it feels like a natural extension to be working with the Publishing side as well.”
Before the deal, Simon had an administration deal with Universal Music Publishing Group, in which an artist still retains ownership over copyright. His recorded music contract remains with Sony Music Entertainment, Billboard reported.
Billboard has also estimated that Simon’s recorded music catalogue last year generated $945,000 in music publishing performance and mechanical revenue from streams, sales and radio play.
In 2018, the singer-songwriter performed the last concert of his career in Queens, playing a 26-song set close to his childhood home.
The CEO and founder of Hipgnosis Song Fund, which has made waves in recent months for purchasing the catalogues of Buckingham, Blondie and many more artists, said in January that “cultural relevance” is key to the back catalogues Hipgnosis has acquired.
“Everything that I buy is proven, it’s successful, but it’s also culturally important,” Merck Mercuriadis said.
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