List of largest music deals

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries. Please observe the definition of the list when adding or editing entries.

The following is a list of the largest music deals in history signed by artists, including recording contracts and multi-rights agreements with over $50 million, as well catalog acquisitions with a reported sum of over $150 million.^[b] Some figures might not be entirely accurate, as some multi-million-dollar contracts were reportedly misrepresented or exaggerated,^[1][2][3] and many were just media estimations. Therefore, no rankings are given.

An early recorded five-figure deal in music history was reported by The Music Trades magazine in the late 1910s, made by American composer John Stepan Zamecnik.^[4] The 1960s saw contracts with six-figures such as an advance deal for $143,000 to Led Zeppelin (Atlantic Records) in 1968, then the biggest deal of its kind for a new band.^[5] The 1970s saw a rise in millionaire recording contracts, starting with a deal made by The Rolling Stones in 1971, which represented "a new benchmark in industry contracts", according to Billboard, and became the largest contract ever made by that point.^[6] In a short span of years, Neil Diamond signed a $4–5 million deal with Columbia Records, which was later superseded by Paul McCartney's Capitol Records and Elton John's MCA Records deals of $8 million each, as well as Stevie Wonder's 1975 deal with Motown valued at $13 million,^[c] reaching a new peak in the industry.^[8][9] The 1980s saw more contracts of eight figures, including record-breaking Diana Ross's $20 million contract with RCA Records in 1980,^[10] or the Rolling Stones with CBS Records for $28 million in 1983.^[11] An increase of blockbuster deals began in the 1990s, with top-signing artists such as Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Prince each exceeding the $40–60 million marks,^[12][13] making multiple appearances in the Guinness World Records.^[14] Up until 2016, only a few recording and multi-rights contracts outpaced the $100 million mark.^[15] The largest music deals belong to catalog acquisitions which include songwriting and publishing rights, with an increase in the late 2010s and early 2020s.^[16][17] The Estate of Michael Jackson made the largest posthumous deals, followed by David Bowie.

Multi-million-sized music deals have often raised skepticism and been criticized in corporate terms for bi-directional disadvantages,^{[18][19][15][20][21][22]} including Prince's 1992 contract with Warner Bros deriving a contractual dispute.^[18] Referred by a contributor from Forbes to as "the best-known and most-cited example" among misadventured contracts,^[15] Mariah Carey's 2001 deal with Virgin Records marked "the first time that a major music corporation decided to cut its losses on a superstar agreement", according to The New York Times.^[23]

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).