Neil Diamond has joined the list of musicians who have made to sell their music catalogs, signing multi-million dollar music contracts over the last year, including Bruce Springsteen, Shakira, Stevie Nicks, and more.
And while this seems to be the first time that the financial terms of the deal are kept private, it was announced that Diamond’s recording rights and his entire song catalog were officially sold to Universal Music Group.
The deal includes rights to all recordings from the singer’s career, which lists 110 unreleased tracks, archival videos and an entire unreleased album. This means that Universal has control over his music, and can even release future songs or albums if the 81-year-old artist works in more music.
Diamond’s music has been used in different movies and films, including ‘Friends,’ The Simpsons’ and ‘Pulp Fiction’ and many of his most iconic tracks have become hits with the help of other artists, who have cover versions of his songs, such as ‘Sweet Caroline,’ ‘Red Red Wine’ and ‘I’m a Believer,’ among others.’
The successful artist retired in 2018, announcing he had Parkinson’s disease. He released a statement praising Universal for their work, hoping they “continue to represent” his catalog, “and future releases with the same passion and integrity that have always fueled my career.”