Sting is the latest rocker to sell his song catalogue. with Universal Music Group (UMG) acquiring his entire portfolio spanning his years with the Police and on his own. Although no numbers were released, industry whispers put the amount of the sale in the $300 million range. UMG has been Sting's label home for his entire career through his runs at A&M, Interscope, and Cherrytree Records.
Sting name-checked both Jody Gerson — the Chairman & CEO, Universal Music Publishing Group and Sir Lucian Grainge — UMG's Chairman & CEO in the official statement regarding the sale:
I am delighted to have Jody and the team at UMPG curate and manage my song catalog. It is absolutely essential to me that my career's body of work have a home where it is valued and respected — not only to connect with longtime fans in new ways but also to introduce my songs to new audiences, musicians and generations.
Throughout my career, I have enjoyed a long and successful relationship with UMG as my label partner, under the watchful guidance of Lucian, so it felt natural to unite everything in one trusted home, as I return to the studio, ready for the next chapter.
Back in the Police days, Sting was asked about his knack for coming up with complex, but instantly commercial songs: “It's beyond logic. I don't know why it happens. I'm glad it happens. I don't think people write songs. I don't write songs. The songs — I transmit the songs. They seem to be there, they seem to be already written, in a sense.”
Sting told us that he has no regrets about any of the more obscure paths his music has taken him: “What I've chosen to do has largely coincided with popular taste — even though my instinct was to just do what I wanted, what interested me. Y'know, and I've always said that there we things that will not coincide with popular taste that will lead me down a path — but I would never regret that.”
Sting kicks off his next set of tour dates on March 5th in Riga, Latvia.
His “My Songs” Las Vegas residency will start at Caesars Palace on June 3rd.
