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It Looks Like Lil Wayne Sold Drake's Masters, Not His
By HHL JT an hour ago
SHARETWEET
Thanks to Lil Wayne's ex-lawyer Ronald Sweeney, who is suing Weezy, we learned that Wayne sold his masters to Universal for $100 million.
Or so we thought. According to an article on Music Business Worldwide, Wayne did cut a $100 million masters' deal with Universal in June. However, it was for his imprint Young Money's masters, not his own
Meaning Universal now owns Drake's pre-2018 catalog (and Nicki Minaj's and Tyga's, etc.), and got it for a pretty good price, considering what Taylor Swift's masters ($450 million) and Boby Dylan's publishing ($300 to $400 million) recently got.
The suit reads: “Plaintiffs are informed and believe… that, subsequent to [Sweeney’s] termination [as Wayne’s manager], specifically in or about June of 2020, Lil Wayne was able to sell the Young Money Masters to Universal Music Group for in excess of $100 Million.”
Whether or not that price-tag is accurate, this piece of information chimes with something MBW observed earlier this year: Drake’s new records in 2020, including hit Toosie Slide and the Dark Lane Demo Tapes mixtape, have been released on OVO – Drake’s own label – under exclusive license to Republic Records. However, all of Drake’s big albums up to and including Scorpion (2018) show a recording copyright credit of Young Money/Cash Money on platforms like Spotify.
It therefore seems Drake has inked a new deal with Universal Music Group and Republic (via OVO) for his latest recordings. But, with UMG having acquired Young Money, the major record company now owns the star’s pre-2018 catalog.
What do you think about the deal Universal got from Wayne?
It Looks Like Lil Wayne Sold Drake's Masters, Not His
By HHL JT an hour ago
SHARETWEET
Thanks to Lil Wayne's ex-lawyer Ronald Sweeney, who is suing Weezy, we learned that Wayne sold his masters to Universal for $100 million.
Or so we thought. According to an article on Music Business Worldwide, Wayne did cut a $100 million masters' deal with Universal in June. However, it was for his imprint Young Money's masters, not his own
Meaning Universal now owns Drake's pre-2018 catalog (and Nicki Minaj's and Tyga's, etc.), and got it for a pretty good price, considering what Taylor Swift's masters ($450 million) and Boby Dylan's publishing ($300 to $400 million) recently got.
The suit reads: “Plaintiffs are informed and believe… that, subsequent to [Sweeney’s] termination [as Wayne’s manager], specifically in or about June of 2020, Lil Wayne was able to sell the Young Money Masters to Universal Music Group for in excess of $100 Million.”
Whether or not that price-tag is accurate, this piece of information chimes with something MBW observed earlier this year: Drake’s new records in 2020, including hit Toosie Slide and the Dark Lane Demo Tapes mixtape, have been released on OVO – Drake’s own label – under exclusive license to Republic Records. However, all of Drake’s big albums up to and including Scorpion (2018) show a recording copyright credit of Young Money/Cash Money on platforms like Spotify.
It therefore seems Drake has inked a new deal with Universal Music Group and Republic (via OVO) for his latest recordings. But, with UMG having acquired Young Money, the major record company now owns the star’s pre-2018 catalog.
What do you think about the deal Universal got from Wayne?
It Looks Like Lil Wayne Sold Drake's Masters, Not His
