Universal Music Publishing Group has acquired iconic singer-songwriter Bob Dylan’s whole songwriting catalog in a massive deal covering nearly six decades of his music, multiple news outlets are reporting.
According to The Associated Press and the New York Times, the company announced the transaction, which includes 600 songs by the Nobel Prize winner, in a statement early Monday.
“To represent the body of work of one of the greatest songwriters of all time – whose cultural importance can’t be overstated – is both a privilege and a responsibility,” the publishing division’s chief executive, Jody Gerson, said in the statement, according to the Times.
Although officials did not reveal how much the company paid for the catalog, the Times reported the deal had an estimated price tag of $300 million or more and “may be the biggest acquisition ever of the music publishing rights of a single act.”
Dylan, 79, has not publicly commented on the deal, according to the Times.