Dr. Dre has decided to sell several of his assets and revenue streams in new deals with Universal Music Group and Shamrock Capital. Combined, the sale price is expected to exceed $200 million, Billboard and Variety have reported.
Shamrock Captial has apparently acquired the artist royalties from two of Dre’s solo albums. The company also now have ownership of Dre’s share of N.W.A artist royalties, his producer royalties and the writer’s share of his song catalogue where he doesn’t own the publishing rights.
Meanwhile, UMG has reportedly acquired the master tapes of Dre’s 1992 debut LP The Chronic and the rapper’s share of Kendrick Lamar’s releases through the Top Dawg Entertainment deal with Interscope, a subsidiary of UMG. Dre is expected to keep hold of his stake in Aftermath, which he co-owns with Interscope.
The sale of these assets comes shortly after Dre’s lawyers filed a cease-and-desist order against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, who used the rapper’s track ‘Still D.R.E’ in a Twitter video post. In the letter, Dre promised that he would “never grant” the congresswoman “permission to broadcast or disseminate any of his music.”
Asset sales are big business right now, with the speculative market expected to expand from classic rock and pop artists like Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen and Leonard Cohen to include iconic hip-hop artists like Chuck D, Future and Dr. Dre.
