Britney Spears Sells the Rights to Her Music Catalog

Why It Matters

The sale provides Spears with a sizable liquidity event while giving Primary Wave a valuable catalog to exploit across high‑growth streaming and licensing channels, underscoring the rising financial importance of music‑rights ownership.

Key Takeaways

• Spears sells catalog for roughly $200 million
• Primary Wave adds Spears to elite catalog
• Music‑rights deals surge with streaming growth
• Catalog valuations doubled since early 2000s
• Legacy artists monetize assets amid nostalgia wave

Pulse Analysis

Britney Spears' recent agreement to transfer the publishing rights of her hit catalog to Primary Wave marks a high‑profile entry into a market that has been heating up over the past decade. The reported $200 million price tag reflects both the enduring commercial appeal of tracks like “...Baby One More Time” and the strategic value of owning a recognizable pop legacy. Primary Wave, already steward of estates such as Bob Marley and Stevie Nicks, is expanding its portfolio to include early‑2000s pop icons, positioning itself for deeper sync and streaming revenue streams.

The surge in music‑rights acquisitions is driven by streaming platforms that monetize catalog depth through algorithmic playlists and global reach. Industry data shows that $5 billion changed hands in 2021 alone, with valuations roughly twice the average of the prior 25 years. High‑profile transactions—Bruce Springsteen’s $500 million master deal and David Bowie’s $250 million songwriting sale—have set benchmarks that encourage other legacy acts to monetize their intellectual property. As nostalgia cycles bring early‑2000s pop back into cultural conversations, catalog owners anticipate heightened licensing demand for film, TV, and advertising.

For Spears, the deal provides a substantial liquidity event while freeing her to focus on touring, brand partnerships, and new creative projects without the administrative burden of rights management. Primary Wave, in turn, gains a catalog that can be leveraged across sync placements, curated playlists, and emerging formats such as short‑form video. The broader market signal is clear: investors view music publishing as a resilient, cash‑generating asset class, especially as consumer appetite for retro hits remains strong. Future deals will likely hinge on data‑driven royalty projections and the ability to monetize cross‑media exposure.

Britney Spears sells the rights to her music catalog

By Malia Mendez, Staff Writer · Feb. 10, 2026 2:48 PM PT

Britney Spears scored the early 2000s with hits from “Oops!... I Did It Again” to “Toxic.”

Now, the rights to those songs will belong to music‑publishing company Primary Wave after Spears reportedly signed a major new deal for approximately $200 million, according to NBC News. Details of the sale were not disclosed.

Primary Wave, which was founded 20 years ago with the acquisition of a 50 % interest and partnership in Kurt Cobain’s music‑publishing catalog, also owns songs from the catalogs of music legends Bob Marley, Stevie Nicks and Whitney Houston, among others.

Representatives for Primary Wave and Spears did not immediately respond to The Times’ requests for comment.

Music‑rights acquisitions have become increasingly popular investments in recent years as the recorded‑music industry has boomed with the advent of streaming. With access to sprawling libraries on Spotify and Apple Music, consumers are listening to albums and artist catalogs at higher rates, and older artists are more prone to popping back into the zeitgeist. Licensing for movies and TV is also booming, and with Y2K nostalgia permeating today’s media, Spears may be selling at an opportune time.

Trade publication Music Business Worldwide estimated that more than $5 billion changed hands through music‑rights acquisitions in 2021. Additionally, songwriting catalogs at that time were being valued at twice the average price of the prior 25 years.

Notable sellers include Bruce Springsteen, who in 2021 made a deal with Sony Music Entertainment to relinquish his master recordings and songs for $500 million. Shortly thereafter, David Bowie’s estate sold his songwriting catalog to Warner Chappell Music for $250 million. ZZ Top, Tina Turner and Paul Simon all made similar deals around the same time.

Spears in 2023 released her memoir, The Woman in Me, which recounted her rise to fame and years‑long battle to escape a conservatorship she was placed under in 2008 for alleged mental‑health concerns. Music writer Jeff Weiss’s 2025 book, Waiting for Britney Spears: A True Story, Allegedly, included details — some true, some fabricated — from that highly publicized time in the singer’s life.

Spears’ ex‑husband Kevin Federline followed the “Gimme More” singer’s memoir with last year’s You Thought You Knew, in which he accused Spears of consuming cocaine while she was still breastfeeding their second son, among other alleged concerning behaviors. Spears denied the allegations on social media.