Dr. Dre selling his catalogue assets to Shamrock Capital and Universal Music Group

Several of Dr. Dre’s music assets and income streams are being sold by the rapper in deals with both Shamrock Capital and Universal Music Group (UMG), that are said to be upwards of $200 million.

The assets, acquired by Shamrock Capital, reportedly include royalties from two of his solo albums, along with his share of N.W.A. artist royalties, his producer royalties, and the writer’s share of his song catalogue where he doesn’t own the publishing rights- which potentially includes his 1992 LP debut, The Chronic.

Shamrock is the same institution that acquired Taylor Swift’s six albums from Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, of which she has already re-recorded two in order to retain the rights to her own music.

Universal’s acquired assets include the masters for Dre’s The Chronic— which are set to revert to Dre from Death Row Entertainment in August 2023—along with his share of Kendrick Lamar’s releases through the Top Dawg Entertainment deal with Interscope- a subsidiary owned by UMG- and Dre’s Aftermath imprint.

News of the deals, which are rumoured to have been in motion for weeks now, come in the wake of the recent cease-and-desist that his lawyers sent Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, who used Dre’s song 'Still D.R.E.' in a video posted to Twitter. In a letter to the congresswoman, the rapper’s lawyers promised that she would “never” be granted “permission to broadcast or disseminate any of his music.” The rumoured deals now make it unclear to what degree Dre will be able to restrict future licensing of his music.

This is not the first deal made over the the past several years, with the music asset market continuing to grow. Artists like Genesis, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and David Bowie have previously made deals, and now, that list includes hip-hop artists like Chuck D, Future, and, Dr. Dre.