On Garth Brooks Looking to Sell His Catalog for $2 Billion

Random Notes 79 Comments


So Garth Brooks is pondering the sale of his music catalog, including both his publishing and recorded music rights, all of which he’s retained sole ownership of over his career. According to The Wall Street Journal who was first to report the news, Garth’s asking price is said to be upwards of $2 billion, though that doesn’t mean that will be the eventual price.

The first question one might have is if Garth can actually fetch that kind of cash for his catalog. Though $2 billion might be too rich of an asking price, it might not be outside of the ballpark. When Sony acquired 50% of Michael Jackson’s catalog in 2024, it was for $600 million, and Jackson’s assets were said to be valued somewhere between $1.2 and $1.6 billion. Historically, Garth is certainly on that Michael Jackson level. And since he’s still living, Garth can still promote those assets and his music, and doesn’t have accusations of pedophilia to contend with.

The second most important question might be why Garth Brooks wants to sell, and why now? Brooks is famous for wanting to keep complete and total control over his intellectual property in any and all capacities. He’s refused to put his music up on streaming services, first launching his own autonomous streaming service called GhostTunes before later partnering with Amazon for exclusive digital distribution. He even sued Blockbuster Music for selling used copies of his albums.

So why sell now? The answer is that everyone with any good sense seems to be cashing out on the American economy, especially when it comes to intellectual property. With the onset of AI and the potentially catastrophic ramifications it could wreak on music and especially back catalogs, now is the time to grab whatever equity you can and call it good. Now is also the time to sell as massive corporations still have an appetite to buy up these assets, and they may never be valued higher.

Garth Brooks is also getting old. He’s 64, recently stopped his weekly podcasts, has no tour planned, and only has a few appearances scheduled for this summer. Though it might be foolish to expect a second retirement from the country music superstar, certainly Garth’s days of crushing it live or in the studio are past him.

Though it might not be as significant as the accusations against Michael Jackson or other major music stars, Garth Brooks does have a pending sexual assault lawsuit against him. Perhaps if it doesn’t work out in his favor, this could tarnish his reputation. It might be better to sell before any trial and public revelations of evidence as opposed to after. Of course, Brooks should be considered innocent until proven guilty. But even if he’s innocent, with the lower burden of proof for civil litigation, nothing is for certain.

So the next major question would be, what are the implications of a Garth Brooks catalog sale on country music itself?

Along with likely setting a record for a music catalog valuation, the sale of Garth’s musical assets might mean his music can finally see the type of late career legacy it’s been robbed of due to his insistence of keeping his digital music only in one place: Amazon. The massive retrospective popularity we’ve seen for other ’90s performers like Alan Jackson and Brooks & Dunn has eluded country music’s and American music’s most successful star because he’s recused himself from the digital music revolution with foolish, shortsighted deals.

Make no mistake about it: for decades Garth Brooks was one of the greatest marketing geniuses in music history. But coming out of his retirement, he was like the old general always trying to fight the last war instead of the one currently on the battlefield, thinking exclusivity was the way to leverage the most money from consumers, doubling and tripling down on physical product, box sets, and the Compact Disc stocked in big box stores as opposed to recognizing the realities of streaming, or even social media and song clipping.

George Strait has remained significantly more relevant than Garth Brooks over the last few years via his viral TikTok moments with “Carrying Your Love With Me” and “Check Yes Or No” opening his music to new generations of fans, while Garth is distributing his new albums in box sets exclusively available at Bass Pro Shops.

Perhaps the only way Garth Brooks gets out of the corner he’s backed himself, his music, and his legacy into is a massive sale, opening his catalog up to everyone. And make no mistake about it, that catalog is absolutely critical to the popularity and legacy of country music.

Though country purists love to cite his Chris Gaines moment, or his alligator tears, or his greasy marketing schemes especially with box sets and such, the simple fact is Garth Brooks is a massively important neotraditionalist country star with perhaps the most influential catalog in country music this side of Hank Williams. It’s sale could have absolutely massive affects on the genre moving forward, especially since it remains so inaccessible to the public at the moment.

But who knows if the sale, and if wide distribution of the catalog afterwards will transpire. We’ll just have to wait and see. But it’s likely The Wall Street Journal piece was meant to stir attention and make sure any and all prospective buyers are brought to the table to give Garth’s hand stronger prospects.

Despite his rabid popularity over his career, Garth Brooks has been a polarizing character, especially from his financial-first perspective on his career. Selling his catalog for $2 billion or even something just shy of that will certainly stir up those emotions again. But it also might be one of the best things to happen to one of the most important catalogs in country music history. Generations of listeners remain disconnected from the Garth Brooks music legacy, and that gaping hole isn’t good for anyone, especially Garth.

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