Red Hot Chili Peppers, catalog to Warner for over 300 million

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have sold their entire catalog to Warner Music Group for a sum exceeding 300 million dollars, or 254 million euros. The band thus cedes control of all its original recordings to the record label, with which it has been under contract since 1991, the year of release of “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”, thus allowing Warner to collect all future revenues generated by streaming, radio play, sales and licensing.

The deal follows a previous deal the band made with Hipgnosis – now known as Recognition Music Group – to sell the publishing rights to their music for a fee of around $140 million (€118 million).

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the new deal would be financed through a joint venture between Warner Music Group and the investment firm Bain Capital, which last year launched a $1.2 billion (€1.08 billion) fund to acquire high-profile music catalogs.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ catalog is estimated to generate around $26 million (€22 million) a year and, until now, the related rights have been controlled by the band members.