Katy Perry sells rights to her music catalog for $225 mn

Singer Katy Perry has sold the rights to her music catalog in a deal reportedly worth $225 million. 

The Carlyle Group investing firm announced on Monday, 18 September, the rights to the 38-year-old singer's songs and albums released from 2008 to 2020 had been bought by Litmus Music, reports aceshowbiz.com.

According to outlets including Deadline and Billboard, the deal includes Katy's five albums released through Capitol Records, 'One of the Boys' (released in 2008), 'Teenage Dream' (2010), 'Prism' (2013), 'Witness' (2017) and 2020's 'Smile'.

Litmus co-founder and CEO Hank Forsyth said, "Katy's songs are an essential part of the global cultural fabric. We are so grateful to be working together again with such a trusted partner whose integrity shines in everything that she does."

Matt Settle, managing director at the Carlyle Group, added: "We believe this is a testament to the team's ability to partner with the world's top artists. Katy's iconic songs have not only achieved outstanding commercial success but have significantly influenced popular culture."

The 'I Kissed a Girl' hitmaker is among a growing number of big-name artists to sell the master recordings of their back catalog. Justin Bieber sold his share of his own music rights in January to Hipgnosis Songs Capital for a reported $200 million.

In January 2022, it emerged Bob Dylan had sold the rights to his entire back catalog to Sony, for an undisclosed amount, though the deal was said to be worth up to $183 million. Bruce Springsteen also sold his music to Sony in late 2021, in a mammoth deal worth a reported $500 million.

News of Katy's deal broke as she hit headlines over her marriage to comic Russell Brand after he was accused of rape, sexual assault and physical and emotional abuse by four women as part of a media investigation into his treatment of women. 

He has also been accused of abuse by two more women, one who made the allegations in a book published in 2014, and another who the Metropolitan Police said on Monday, 18 September had claimed she was assaulted by Russell in London's Soho in 2003. Russell has strongly denied all the allegations made against him, and has insisted his previous relationships have been "absolutely always consensual."

Katy, who was married to Russell from 2010 to 2012, told Vogue in 2013 there was a "real truth" behind the reason their marriage ended that she was keeping "locked in my safe." 

The singer, who has a daughter with fiance Orlando Bloom, added: "Let's just say I haven't heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me 31 December, 2011."

"At first when I met him he wanted an equal, and I think a lot of times strong men do want an equal, but then they get that equal and they're like, I can't handle the equalness. He didn't like the atmosphere of me being the boss on tour. So that was really hurtful, and it was very controlling, which was upsetting," she said.

She continued: "I felt a lot of responsibility for it ending, but then I found out the real truth, which I can't necessarily disclose because I keep it locked in my safe for a rainy day. I let go and I was like: This isn't because of me; this is beyond me. So I have moved on from that."