Katy Perry performing live. Photo Credit: marcen27
Carlyle Global Credit-backed Litmus Music has scooped up the catalog of Katy Perry in a reportedly $225 million deal.
New York City-headquartered Litmus detailed its latest play via a formal release today. Though the Hank Forsyth- and Dan McCarroll-founded music-IP investor didn’t disclose the precise financials behind the “creative partnership,” multiple reports have attached the aforementioned $225 million figure to the transaction.
In any event, Litmus did make clear that the agreement extends to Perry’s latter five studio albums, 2008’s One of the Boys, 2010’s Teenage Dream, 2013’s Prism, 2017’s Witness, and 2020’s Smile. These Capitol Records projects are said to feature 16 multi-platinum singles from the “Roar,” “I Kissed a Girl,” and “Firework” artist.
Meanwhile, Litmus communicated that the multimillion-dollar deal had been set in motion by the professional relationship between Perry and McCarroll, formerly president of Capitol.
Addressing the investment, the Warner Bros. vet and Litmus chief creative officer McCarroll emphasized the “major impact” of the “creative visionary” Perry. And in remarks of his own, the former Warner Chappell exec and current Litmus CEO Forsyth touted Perry’s work as “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,” continued Forsyth.
At the time of this writing, 38-year-old Perry didn’t seem to have addressed the catalog sale on social media, with most of her latest posts having plugged her namesake footwear line and her non-alcoholic apéritif beverage line.
But for Litmus, which set sail in August of 2022 with a cool $500 million to spend on catalogs, the massive buyout has arrived just nine or so months following its first IP purchase.
To be sure, it was only in December that the relatively new operation closed an agreement for the recordings of Keith Urban. Then, late June of 2023 delivered a pact between Litmus Music and Benny Blanco, with the involved parties having taken the opportunity to highlight the longstanding professional ties between Blanco and McCarroll.
Bigger picture, the Litmus-Perry union and Concord’s nearly $500 million deal for Round Hill’s publicly traded song fund demonstrate that ample capital is continuing to fly around the previously red-hot catalog sphere. The point is worth bearing in mind as Hipgnosis Songs Fund fields offers for the 29 catalogs (including the rights to the work of Shakira, Barry Manilow, and Nelly) that it will otherwise sell to Hipgnosis Songs Capital for $440 million.
