300 Million Dollar Bash

(WSJ photo)

Bob Dylan has sold his entire music catalog to Universal for more than $300 million. He's the rarest of celebrities who have been in the public eye during the lifespan of the baby boom generation. Growing up in then-remote Hawaii, even we grade-schoolers knew the words to 1962's Blowin' in the Wind.

Given its enormous impact and the prices paid for other cultural influences, the Dylan songbook seems underpriced. Perhaps there was some financial structuring involved. ("Name the price, and I'll set the terms.")

The WSJ briefly discusses some of the financial considerations: [bold added]

In selling his copyrights, Mr. Dylan creates more tax certainty and potential benefits for himself and his heirs. He likely will pay a one-time capital-gains tax of 23.8% in addition to state taxes, as opposed to paying 37% plus state tax on the annual income his catalog generates. Doing the sale now means he pays the capital-gains tax in accordance with today’s rates and rules rather than facing the potential higher rates and tighter restrictions that Democrats have proposed on both capital gains and ordinary income. For his estate, he can plan tax strategies on his remaining assets without his heirs and the government engaging in a lengthy fight over the value of the copyrighted assets after his death.

Frankly, it would be surprising to your humble blogger if this were an all-cash deal. Bob Dylan's financial representatives would not be doing their job if they didn't capture for their client some of tomorrow's upside from streaming and other technologies barely imagined. Tomorrow is a long time.