Now, this is what you call a record deal. When Bruce Springsteen signed his new deal with Sony Music last year, both sides knew the score.
The singer has been with the label for his entire career, and has sold millions of records and earned millions of dollars for both sides ($72 million profit for the label in fact).
But according to documents included in the recent Sony Entertainment leak, the real winner this time around is the singer. Springsteen’s $31 million deal will take him up until 2027 (his 78th birthday) with the label. For that, Sony will get four new albums, reissued box sets and some greatest hits collections.
But the cash isn’t the only sign that the singer has the upper hand. As Sony big-wig Steve Kober noted in an email to fellow executive Michael Lynton, the label needs Springsteen much more than he needs them.
“Given his track record, this is not an artist that we can afford to lose,” wrote Kober. “In addition, we still generate significant revenues from his catalogue.”
But Springsteen too makes a mint from that back catalogue. He owns the master recordings, retains the right to sell downloads of his live concerts and no doubt is in clover when it comes to his publishing rights too. And if he’s stuck for a few bob, he can always tour again.
And the moral of the story? The house may always win in Vegas and with record contracts, but it’s a different matter when you’re the Boss.
