Universal Music Group announced a deal on Thursday to buy the catalog of music, recordings and film archives of rock guitarist and composer Frank Zappa for an undisclosed fee.
Zappa joins other famous artists such as Bob Dylan, Sting and Neil Diamond who have sold their catalogs to music publishers, helping them generate more revenue from licensing, branding deals and royalties.
The label says its Universal Music Publishing Group will acquire Zappa’s publishing catalog including the album “Joe’s Garage,” the songs “Cosmik Debris” and “Uncle Remus,” among others.
Over the past decade, UMG’s global catalog company Universal Music Enterprises and The Zappa Trust have reissued many of Zappa’s iconic albums on vinyl and made his catalog of music available for streaming and download.
UMG, which also represents and collects royalties for artists such as Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Korean pop group BTS, said in May that they expected the music streaming industry to continue to boom.
