Neil Diamond Sells Music Catalog to UMG

Neil Diamond sold his song catalog to Universal Music Group making him the latest deal of musicians selling their portfolios.

The Wall Street Journal reports the company, which didn’t disclose the value of the deal, said the pact includes rights to all recordings from Mr. Diamond’s career, 110 unreleased tracks and an unreleased album. Universal’s publishing division has been Mr. Diamond’s publishing administrator for several years.

Universal said that it will release the artist’s future music as part of the deal if he decides to return to the studio.

The deal for Mr. Diamond’s songs comes as the value of royalty revenue from music rights has soared. Catalogs have sold for as much as 30 times their average annual royalties. Bob Dylan sold his catalog to Universal for between $300 and $400 million. It included 600 copyrights over the course of 60 years of music. Universal also recently bought Sting’s entire song catalog for roughly $300 million, according to people familiar with the transaction.

Artists such as Frank Sinatra and Johnny Cash have covered some of Mr. Diamond’s songs which include hits like “Sweet Caroline,” “Red Red Wine” and “I’m a Believer.” Mr. Diamond’s music has also been used in the film and TV industry for shows like “Friends” and “The Simpsons.”

Mr. Diamond’s and Universal’s relationship dates back to when the artist recorded with Universal’s MCA Records between 1968 and 1972, a period in which he released hits such as “Holly Holy,” and “Song Sung Blue.”

The deal brings Mr. Diamond’s work under one roof, giving Universal the opportunity to amplify the songwriter’s body of work at a time when revenue from streaming music has grown, thanks to the popularity of services from Spotify Technology SA, Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.