Dr. Dre set to sell catalogue assets, including 'The Chronic' master, in $200 million deal
Part of the rapper’s discography is being sold to Universal Music and Shamrock Holdings
Dr. Dre is selling the rights to part of his back catalogue in a $200 million deal with Universal Music and Shamrock Holdings, Variety reports.
The deal, which has not yet been closed, would see a collection of music from the rapper and producer’s discography - and additional streaming revenues - bought out in two separate deals.
The assets currently generate more than $10 million each year and are rumoured to include royalties from Dr. Dre’s two first records and his share of N.W.A. royalties, as well as the writer’s share of his catalogue where the rapper doesn’t own publishing.
Sources confirmed to Variety that the final sale price of the catalogue assets could fetch upwards of $200 million, but below the asking price of $250 million.
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Rumours of the sale first circulated several weeks ago before Billboard confirmed that both Universal and Shamrock deals were shopped by Dre’s lawyer, Peter Paterno.
Billboard’s sources added that the acquired portion of song royalties could be sold to Shamrocks, which includes between 75% and 90% of the package’s revenue.
Universal Music would acquire the master recording of ‘The Chronic’, Dre’s debut studio record, which would revert the producer from Death Row Records after being bought out by Snoop Dogg in February 2022.
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Earlier this month, the 57-year-old rapper sent a cease-and-desist to US politician Marjorie Taylor Greene after she used one of his songs, without a license, in a promotional video.
“I don't license my music to politicians, especially someone as divisive and hateful as this one,” he told TMZ and the LA Times after the right-wing politician used his hit track ‘Still D.R.E.’.
In a letter to Greene, who is known for sharing far-right conspiracy theories online, Dre’s lawyers wrote: “One might expect that, as a member of Congress, you would have a passing familiarity with the laws of our country.
“It's possible, though, that laws governing intellectual property are a little too arcane and insufficiently populist for you to really have spent much time on.”
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Editorial Assistant, follow her on Twitter