Hip-Hop icon Dr. Dre is officially selling a portion of the collection of his music catalog to Universal Music Group.
In a deal, confirmed to Variety, the hit producer’s assets and music revenue streams have been pitched for a $250 million USD deal. The assets, which generate roundabout $10 million USD annually, are to be acquired by UMG and Shamrock Holdings in two separate transactions. While the deal has been rumored for weeks, Billboard has confirmed that the deal is near completion.
According to the publication, the deal consists of artist royalties from two of his solo albums and his share of N.W.A. artist royalties, producer royalties, in addition to a song catalog, which Dr. Dre doesn’t own publishing. This might include 75% to 90% of the package revenue, likely to be acquired by Shamrock, which additionally owns a few of Taylor Swift’s recordings. UMG will probably purchase the remaining percentage. Under the UMG deal, the acquisition will likely see them acquire the master recording of “The Chronic,” which will revert to Dr. Dre from Death Row Entertainment.
While sources have confirmed the deal was for $250 million USD, it’s likely to be below this number, however well above $200 million USD.
UMG declined to comment while representatives from Dr. Dre’s camp and Shamrock Holdings could not be reached for comment.