In the upcoming year, Kanye plans to make some significant financial moves.
According to Billboard, Kanye and his team have been secretly meeting with potential purchasers over the past year to see what kind of worth his collection commands. Kanye earns $5 million year off his catalog, according to estimates.
There isn’t currently a defined price for his catalog, but insiders tell Billboard that Ye wants to make 35 times gross profit for it.
Anyone who acquires West’s catalog will have the chance to sign a long term publication contract with Ye, which should entice customers.
It is reported that Ye’s catalog generates $13.25 million in publishing royalties annually. However, it is hard to determine West’s exact valuation because the albums in the later part of his career can have 10-24 songwriters per song. Billboard estimates that in his first 4 albums, Kanye has a 35% share of his albums and in his last 6 it drops to 20%. With the $5 million that Ye’s catalog generates for him annually, multiplied by the 35x profit he is looking to get off of his catalog, puts the asking price at $175 million.
While West and his team are currently looking for a buyer, some might be apprehensive to spend almost $200 million on his catalog for a myriad of reasons. Billboard reports that many of his songs are still hit songs and the revenue from these songs will most likely decay over time. Also, West’s songwriter splits are still being disputed and it is unsure what his split will be after it has been disputed. Lastly, West’s own behavior makes it difficult for some who are not in favor of him to want to buy his catalog.
