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The Weeknd is reportedly looking to raise $1 billion in financing backed by his music catalog, which includes music publishing rights and master recordings. Bloomberg reports that New York-based private equity firm Lyric Capital Group is in talks with the Grammy-winning singer and they’ve reached out to other investors to secure the funds.
The Weeknd would use his stake in his music publishing rights and his share of the master recordings of the songs as collateral. Tesfaye can leverage his back catalog to investors.
As of right now, discussions are still ongoing and no agreement has been reached.
Lyric Capital Group has reportedly presented a structure that includes $500 million of senior debt, $250 million of junior debt and $250 million of equity. The Weeknd would keep control over his intellectual property but would also be able to finance ventures like his production company, Manic Phase.
Lyric owns Spirit Music Group, a music publishing company, which controls publishing catalogs from artists like Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean. In 2023, Lyric closed its second music royalty fund with approximately $800 million in total commitments.
The Weeknd’s music publishing is owned by Chord Music Partners — a consortium that includes Universal Music Group and Dundee Partners.
If the deal goes through, it would be among the largest music-backed transactions to date.
In early August, The Weeknd set a record for the most shows played by a Canadian artist at the Rogers Centre after performing four shows at the baseball stadium during the Toronto stop on his After Hours ‘Til Dawn Tour and two shows there in 2022. Earlier this year, he announced that he is retiring his stage name, but intends to keep making music.
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