The Red Hot Chili Peppers appear to have sold their recorded music catalogue to Warners in a deal that’s apparently worth more than $300 million (£220 million).
The band have been signed to Warners since their 1991 album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, but the new deal does apparently cover the four albums they released prior to that on EMI (their self-titled debut, Freaky Styley, The Uplift Mofo Party Plan and Mother’s Milk).
Hadn't the band already sold their back catalogue, though? Well, yes. But that deal, which was conducted in 2021, saw the Chili Peppers sell their publishing rights to the Hipgnosis Songs Fund for $150 million. However, those rights may well end up with someone else as Sony Music is reportedly looking to acquire Hipgnosis (who are now known as Recognition Music Group) in a multi-million dollar deal of their own. Got that? Good.
The band were among the first of a wave of A-list acts to sell their back catalogues. Since then, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Jack White, Queen, Pink Floyd, Deftones and Jack White have all made similar deals, though conversely, Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa have both bought back their masters.
It’s been four years now since the group’s most recent albums, Unlimited Love and Return To The Dream Canteen, which came out within a few months of each other in 2022.
However, in an interview with Zane Lowe to promote his solo album, Flea did say that the Chili Peppers were currently writing. “It’s different… really different,” he told the DJ. “We’re putting together music and it feels beautiful.”
