Garth Brooks Music Catalog Sale Could Fetch Up to $2 Billion

As Garth Brooks prepares to be celebrated Wednesday night (June 3) by the Recording Industry Association of America in Washington, D.C. — for being the only artist in RIAA history with 10 Diamond albums (for equivalent sales of 10 million units each) — speculation has heated up again that the country superstar is contemplating selling his publishing and recorded music catalog, which he fully owns. 

The Wall Street Journal published a story online Tuesday night (June 2) that the price could be as high as $2 billion, which would be a record. Brooks is the No. 1-selling album artist in the U.S. with sales of 200 million albums, surpassing The Beatles, who are at 183 million, according to the RIAA.

A source with knowledge of the situation tells Billboard that Brooks continues to have ongoing discussions with a number of companies about selling his work, as he has for the past few years.

The renewed speculation likely came after Brooks, 64, held a private fireside chat in May with a foundation and was asked about the next chapter of his career. He reaffirmed that he was open to entertaining offers to sell.   

Investor interest in hit musicians’ masters and publishing rights has grown over the past decade. In 2024, Sony Music bought Queen’s catalog for a reported $1.27 million. The revered British band has sold 108.7 million albums in the U.S. (and much more worldwide), leading to speculation that bidding for Brooks’ catalog would start at at least $1.5 billion, according to sources. Also in 2024, Sony Music purchased a 50% stake in Michael Jackson’s publishing and recorded music catalog for $600 million.  

Should Brooks sell, the purchaser would likely get his music on streaming platforms as quickly as possible, leading to a potential motherlode. Brooks is the biggest artist not to have his music available on streaming outlets like Spotify or Apple, preferring an exclusive deal with Amazon Music that has severely limited newer fans’ ability to discover such Brooks classics as “Friends in New Places,” “The Dance” and “The River.” 

Brooks has steadily released CD compilations through his Anthology book/CD series that have been a mix of previously released material and new songs. His last full album of new material was 2023’s Time Traveler, which was initially released as part of a seven-disc box set available exclusively through Bass Pro Shops before being made available to stream on Amazon Music. 

In April, Big Loud CEO Seth England told Billboard’s Kristin Robinson on her On The Record podcast that the effect of Brooks’ music being available on all streaming platforms would be immense and would likely affect country streaming as a genre. 

 “There’s a certain someone out there in our genre whose music is not on all platforms,” England said, referring to Brooks. “If and when he decides to [make the music widely available], it’s going to change our genre again for three to four years because of the impact of his music. And, therefore, any artists who are also inspired by him, being that [the streamers] work off of algorithms so much, their music will lead to recommendations of other artists. So it may not be that one person’s responsibility, but I do think it is their opportunity. In the next few years, I really hope to see Garth come back online and re-permeate his music everywhere because I think the genre will take a massive lift.”

Representatives for Brooks declined to comment.