Red Hot Chili Peppers Sell Recorded Music Catalog to Warner Music Group for Over $300 Million

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have sold the rights to their recorded music catalog to Warner Music Group in a deal valued at more than $300 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Warner Music Group acquired the catalog through a joint venture with Bain Capital. This partnership, announced in July 2023, has a total budget of $1.2 billion for catalog acquisitions. The $300 million spent on the Red Hot Chili Peppers is part of the $650 million Warner Music Group has already used to purchase various music catalogs, per its May 7 earnings report. The company has not disclosed details about the other catalogs it has acquired.

Industry rumors about the Red Hot Chili Peppers seeking buyers for their recorded rights started in February. There is also speculation that Sony Music Group may acquire Hipgnosis, now known as Recognition Music Group, in a multibillion-dollar deal. If this occurs, the band's publishing rights could change ownership.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers previously sold their songwriting catalog to Hipgnosis in 2021 for approximately $140 million.

According to Billboard, the band owns its 13 studio albums and other releases issued by Warner Music Group in the United States, beginning with 1991's "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" through 2022's "Unlimited Love" and "Return of the Dream Canteen." Billboard could not confirm if the band owned its first four studio albums, released by EMI in the U.S., which are also included in the sale. It is also unclear whether the deal includes name, image and likeness rights for the band members.

Billboard estimates the Red Hot Chili Peppers' master recording catalog generates about $26 million in annual revenue, with most of that coming from Warner Music Group's portion of the catalog. Major albums in that group include "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" and "Californication."

Warner Music Group and the Red Hot Chili Peppers have not commented publicly on further details of the agreement.