Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young are some of the musicians who have recently sold rights to their songs. Investors, major labels and private equity firms have poured billions of dollars into buying music catalogs, believing that the growth of streaming music and music revenues could make these music rights acquisitions highly profitable in the long run, as they can be exploited for up to 70 years after the death of a musician.
Asked in an interview with A Journal Of Musical Things whether KISS will ever sell their catalog, Gene Simmons replied,
“How much do you have? Bob Dylan sold it for $300-400 million. The problem—and I love the guy, and I worship the solo. where he steps — but his music won’t mean much to a 20-year-old. They don’t care about ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’, ‘Maggie’s Farm’ — they just don’t care. Few songs stand the test What KISS has that no other musical entity has are trademarks. Our faces are bigger than the music, bigger than anything.”
He added:
“Bruce Springsteen just sold for $500 million and what you get is the music, not the image. I’ve never seen a Bruce Springsteen cartoon, comic book or action figure. KISS is unique, and what? you will buy—if someone pays the right price—is an image that has stood the test of time. Our analogy is Santa Claus and Superman: images that are recorded in ways that no one can reproduce. And no other musical act has that.”
Last February, Paul Stanley, lead singer of Kiss, said in an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock that the idea of musicians selling the rights to their songs makes sense. “As far as I know, we only have one trip in this land, and you can’t take (the rights) with you, so I totally understand. If you have money to earn and you’ll make your life better, why not?” he said.