BMG Buys Fleetwood Mac Rights After 1970s Song Is TikTok Hit

Bertelsmann SE’s BMG snapped up rights to most of Fleetwood Mac’s music after the band’s hit song “Dreams” went viral on social media.

BMG acquired drummer Mick Fleetwood’s royalty interests in more than 300 recordings including “Landslide” and “Go Your Own Way,” according to a statement Thursday. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

“Dreams” shot back into the charts last year after a video of a man skateboarding along a highway while drinking raspberry juice and lip-syncing to the 1977 soft rock song became a social media sensation. In about eight weeks, “Dreams” generated 2.8 billion views on TikTok, was streamed 182 million times and helped sell 86,000 Fleetwood Mac albums in the U.S., BMG said.

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6:34 PM · Sep 25, 2020

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The value of songs and recordings has soared in recent years after streaming dragged the music industry out of a deep slump. A lot of the recent signups to platforms like Spotify and Amazon Music are older users who want to listen to the hits of their youth.

The BMG deal is the latest in a flurry of music rights acquisitions as artists cut off from touring look to raise cash.

“This acquisition highlights the value of timeless recordings in a streaming market which is increasingly benefiting established rather than newer artists,” Justus Haerder, an M&A executive at BMG, said in the statement.

Private equity firm KKR & Co. said this week it bought a majority stake in the music catalog of OneRepublic and songs its lead singer wrote with artists including Beyonce, Adele and U2. Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd. earlier this month acquired rights to the discographies of folk and rock songwriter Neil Young and pop star Shakira. Late last year, fellow ‘60s icon Bob Dylan sold his music rights to Universal Music Group.

Fleetwood Mac have sold more than 120 million records and were inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame in 1998. BMG represents artists including The Rolling Stones and Kylie Minogue.

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