Universal Music Group given publishing rights to Prince’s catalog

LOS ANGELES — Universal Music Publishing Group has reached an agreement with the Estate of Prince Rogers Nelson to administer the Prince catalog worldwide, the publishing arm of Universal Music Group announced today. The publishing deal covers both Prince’s released and unreleased music.

Encompassing well over a thousand songs, the catalog includes songs from Prince’s Warner Bros. Records releases in the 1970s-’90s, as well as his subsequent albums self-released through a variety of distributors. Prince’s publishing was administered through UMPG from 2001 through 2014, at which point he began to self-publish.

Since the musician died earlier this year, speculation has been rife that he maintained a vast vault of unreleased music - through this deal, any new music released by his Estate would fall under UMPG’s auspices.

In a statement, UMPG chairman and CEO Jody Gerson said, “We’re humbled to be entrusted with Prince’s catalog and I’m grateful to my entire team for their work in making this agreement a reality… With the timelessness and genius of Prince’s music, there are no limits to what we can achieve working with his estate. Prince’s popularity will only continue to grow around the world.”

UMG chairman Lucian Grainge added, “We are looking forward to continuing Prince’s legacy and ensuring that generations to come will know his unique brilliance. I congratulate Jody and her team on this landmark deal.”

Financial terms and duration of the deal were not disclosed.