By Joel Brogan

200 million dollars has been spent on Grammy-Winning Pop Star Brittany Spears musical catalogue. Nicknamed the ‘Princess of Pop’ Brittany Spears has been a global icon for the last 30 years, giving us hits such as “… Baby One More Time” and “Oops!... I Did It Again.” A pop culture idol, her iconic image and catchy tunes has fed nations with her nonstop entertainment.

With information being released on the 11th of February. Brittany sold her music rights to independent music publisher “Primary Wave” on the 20th of December 2025, following a trend of high-profile musicians doing the same thing. Artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd have all given up their catalogues within the past 5 years. The question is why?

A musician has worked all their life to perfect their discography; every single song has been crafted for the artists expression. Some, if not all musicians have been interested in music from an early age and have dreamed of hitting the heights of some of their idols. Why would they give up something that’s one of the most important things revolving around their life?

Brittany said that she would “never return to the music industry” with her last song being a duet with Elton John in 2022. While not a lot of information has been released about her selling the catalogue, we can make a safe bet that her discography doesn’t really mean a lot to her anymore, as she doesn’t make music or tour. Phil Collins and “Genesis” sold their music rights for upwards of $300 million. The reasoning for this is for Phil Collins declining health. Many artists will sell their catalogues if they are retired, it financially helps them if they cannot write new music or tour anymore.

Brittany in her music career struggled a lot with drug misuse and altercations with the paparazzi, along with cruel media representation which personally targeted her. It seems as if she wanted to start anew, and distance herself from her past. This relates to the reasoning of why “Pink Floyd” sold their rights, Guitarist David Gilmour said he sold the rights of “Pink Floyd” to relieve personal burdens and internal conflicts which were happening within the band. Selling catalogues also means the handling of rights and royalties are simplified.

A big reasoning of why an artist would sell their catalogue is for financial gain. According to a TMZ investigation, Justin Bieber sold his catalogue as he was in debt for pulling out of his “Justice” world tour in 2022. Selling catalogues is a fast and immediate payday. In 2024, Queen was sold for 1.27 billion dollars to Sony Music, making it the most lucrative catalogue sale in the history of music. Musicians that are more than wealthy still sell their catalogues for different financial reasons, such as estate planning and a potential on high returns on investment.

These reasons help us understand why an artist would give up their discography. Whether it be for financial reasons, if they are unable to make music or tour and if they feel as if they are being pulled down by their past and feel unable to go and explore new business ventures. Will we be seeing more musicians following in the same footsteps as these ones?

Artists selling their discographies, a new norm?