The Weeknd Forms $1 Billion Venture With Lyric Capital

The Weeknd has closed a deal forming a business venture together with Lyric Capital. Lyric has invested in the artist’s current music catalog with The Weeknd (born Abel Tesfaye) and his team maintaining creative control over said catalog and remaining shareholders and owners in the company. Variety reports that a representative for the Grammy-winning superstar confirms that the joint venture is not a conventional catalog sale.

“From the beginning of the meeting, it was clear to all at Lyric that Abel would not sell his catalog,” the representative explains. “He wanted to be more innovative and creative in the way we established a partnership. To that end, through this venture, we constructed and launched a new business model with Abel and his iconic catalog whereby Abel and his team have the freedom to execute their creative vision with the entirety of his rights, both publishing and masters. This unique catalog deal sets a new standard for artist equity and control.”

It was reported back in August that Lyric Capital presented a structure that included $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. Half of The Weeknd’s music publishing is owned by Chord Music Partners — a consortium that includes Universal Music Group and Dundee Partners.

The venture applies only toward The Weeknd’s music masters and publishing through 2025 and does not include any future releases. 

The only publicly acknowledged single-artist deal larger than this venture was Sony Music’s 2024 acquisition of the Queen catalog, which was valued at $1.27 billion.

“I couldn’t be more excited about what Lyric, Abel and team have created together,” said Ross Cameron, Lyric founding and co-managing partner. “From our first meeting, it was clear to me that we were sitting around the table with individuals that were going to change the way an artist thinks about his assets, music and legacy. The collaboration resulted in a first-of-its-kind partnership between an artist and Lyric, and we are beyond thrilled about this new venture.”

“Lyric strives to create artist-friendly structures and we believe this partnership demonstrates that at the highest level with the top artist in the world. I want to thank Abel and his team for putting their trust in Lyric,” says Rich Garzia, Lyric co-managing partner.