Country music star Garth Brooks is considering selling his music catalog for roughly $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal would rank among the largest music catalog transactions in history, potentially surpassing the billion-dollar purchases of Queen’s catalog and half of Michael Jackson’s catalog by Sony in 2024.
Brooks, who has sold 200 million albums in the United States and holds the record for most diamond-certified albums, has been entertaining a sale for several years, the people said. He recently told potential investors that he is one of few artists of his level of fame who has not yet sold his catalog and is considering it, according to the people.
Brooks told investors he believes the value of his music rights could fall in a range from the high single-digit billions to more than $2 billion, the people added. He would sell both his publishing, or songwriting, and recorded-music rights.
His catalog includes hits such as “The Dance,” “Friends in Low Places,” and “Shameless,” songs that helped define country radio for decades. Brooks has won two Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Brooks has sold 200 million albums in the U.S., making him the best-selling solo artist in American history. He is the only artist to have 10 albums certified diamond — each representing 10 million units sold — surpassing the Beatles in total domestic album sales.
Brooks’ popularity is largely U.S.-centric, and country music sales are heavily domestic. The recent surge in music-catalog investing has been driven by streaming services delivering artists’ work to global audiences and generating repeat listening.
Brooks has eschewed most streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music, partly because they do not sell music. He has resisted selling individual songs through services like iTunes, preferring to preserve complete album sales. In 2016, he signed a deal with Amazon Music to stream his catalog exclusively on that platform.
It could not be determined whether Brooks would allow his music to stream broadly after a sale, a factor that potential investors would likely consider.