Bruce Springsteen sells his back catalog to Sony for half a billion dollars

Maybe there’s something about turning 72 years old that makes a person consider cashing-in and relaxing. I’m not there yet but I imagine my “give-a-shitter” will not be as functional when I’m an old man.

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Maybe, but he’s not really acting like a guy getting ready to retire. He seems to be as active as ever. Also, I doubt he NEEDS the money. I’m sure that Springsteen is already very wealthy from his decades long, highly successful career.

My point is that he positions himself as an artist first… but then again so does bob Dylan, and he did the same thing.

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I think so, though I may be wrong. Michael Nesmith did recently as well (RIP to a real one).

He might not have that option depending on the contracts that were signed along the way.

He’s good, but not that good.

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Like anyone who has been in that game for 50 years, he’s an artist and a businessman. He wouldn’t have had his longevity in the public eye otherwise.

Unless that artist owns and controls the rights. If the owner won’t license it to you, you can’t license it.

Though as goes playing at campaign events that’s that whole ASCAP thing. And like the jukebox at a bar goes with a blanket payment for any music instead of an individual rights and clearances thing. So that’s not something an artist or even record company neccisarily has control of, or even awareness of.

And it would usually be on the venue rather than on the people using the space.

You have no fucking clue what you’re doing.

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Licensing to commercials, TV, and movies I’d guess. A single major licensing deal can be worth a lot. It’s definitely not based on spotify streaming revenue.

It’s not like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, etc. haven’t already extensively licensed their recordings for commercial use like that. They have never had an particularly precious attitude towards their music that it could only be used for “worthy” purposes.

The main difference is that now they (or their heirs) no longer are responsible for managing and promoting that licensing business.

I understand why some artists want to exercise a lot of control over who licenses their music but I also see the argument that if you are a musician and an artist, maybe what you want is for more people to hear, use, and enjoy your music. Another way to do that would be to put the recordings in the public domain, but there is also no reason Disney, Ford, and Netflix should get a free ride.

That’ll buy a whole lotta pink Cadillacs.

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And he POSITIONS himself as an artist, not as a businessman. He very much participates in his own mythology rather than engaging with the messiness of narrative of music as art and music as business. He’s more itnerested in hiding the business aspect of the music INDUSTRY and want to ensure that it’s only seen as a creative endeavor.

Many artists do much better on that front - pretty much any punk artist with any integrity for example, is more than willing to discuss that point of artistic production in a capitalist economy. Same with many hip-hop artists. Hell, even pop artists like Taylor Swift are far more willing to discuss these issues than someone like Dylan or Springsteen, who are so very wrapped up in the mythologizing that hides the reality.

But they’re DYLAN AND SPRINGSTEEN so are GREAT ARTISTS who are beyond reproach, no matter what they do on the business end of things…

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Which, let’s be real, is completely disingenuous. I’ve seen first hand the challenges and cutthroat nature of the business. There’s a reason why the saying “real musicians have day jobs” exists. It’s really, really hard to be a financially successful musician without also being a shrewd businessperson. Talent and creativity will only get you so far. I wish more successful musicians would just be honest about this aspect rather than try to paper over it.

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Well, yeah… that’s my point. On top of that, Springsteen very much pushes a narrative of himself based on working class authenticity. In that sense, he was putting himself at odds with Dylan a bit, who went for the intellectual mysterious shape-shifting artist narrative.

True, which is one of the reasons why many punks often talked about this stuff in the first place.

They benefit from the mythology about being a musician, especially a rock musician - that even the successful ones are just pure artists, who don’t care about making a living.

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Bonus points when they try to spin “it’s only about the art!” while floating in the solid gold swimming pool behind their mansion.

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Meanwhile…

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Thing is, I don’t begrudge an artist their successes, especially when they make art or culture that really does enrich the lives of millions of people. Great job! But maybe don’t cosplay poverty at the very fucking least?

But really, the whole music industry is full of exploitation and bullshit and has been since day one. Even artists who are high profile and well-known might not be wealthy and people like Springsteen make it seem like if you have some hits, then that’s what you are. But even well-known artists might be struggling due to unfair contracts. The hype around deals like this just hide the reality for most working (even signed) musicians.

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You mean Eric Clapton, noted crypto-fascist, anti-vaxxer, anti-masker asshole, might have some problematic legal stances?

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If I owned something worth 500 grand I’d sell it and be done, hell 250 grand would get me to social security. I don’t need much to live in the manner I’ve grown accustomed to, eating and living indoors.

It does disgust me though that this kind of cash is traded every day while people are suffering in this world.

But like someone said we don’t know what Bruce does with his money.

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All that makes sense from the artist’s point of view. But the artists mentioned, including Springsteen, are aging out (or dead). 500 million seems like a lot of money to make back on 30+ year old songs. I don’t doubt Sony knows how to do this, I just don’t understand the scale of getting that kind of return.

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Are we now going to get “Thunder Road (Sony’s Version)”?