Terms of the underwrite
Each term below is an assumption you can change. The red tick on each slider marks the default; the figure beside it shows how much the term is moving the value.
Earnings
Modeled from public listeningThe Catalog is estimated to draw 8.6B audio streams and 266.2M YouTube views a year. The rates below convert that listening into annual Earnings.
What the whole catalog earns in a typical year, modeled from the rates below. Choose Known figure to type your own.
Payout rates · defaults from public payout reporting
The base case sets the modeled cash flow; low and high set its range. Blanking any rate turns the estimate off.
What the recordings earn per 1,000 audio streams after the platform's cut. Spotify alone is near $2.60; Apple and Amazon pay more.
YouTube pays far less per play than audio services; estimates run $0.60–$2.00 per 1,000 views for all rights holders.
Publishing royalties as a share of what the recordings earn. Legacy writers with radio play and covers can earn far more.
Vinyl, CDs, downloads and radio royalties for the recordings, as a share of streaming. Pink Floyd earns about 4× its streaming this way.
Base case rights revenue $42.6M: audio $27.6M · YouTube $212.9K · publishing $7.8M · other $7M
Rights conveyed
The Buyer acquires the interests below. Revenue splits 82% recordings and 18% publishing (from the modeled revenue); each share applies to its side, and the market multiple uses the same weighted cash flow.
Share of the recordings acquired. An artist selling only their royalty on label-owned masters might convey 15–25%.
Share of the songs themselves, as opposed to the recordings of them.
Most hits have several writers. This is the portion of the publishing the seller actually controls.
Kept by the label, distributor or administrator for collecting the money.
Growth
Earnings are projected for ten years. Recorded music grew about 5–6% a year recently; mature catalogs tend toward inflation.
Annual change in earnings in the near term; positive while the catalog keeps finding listeners.
Mature catalogs usually slow toward inflation or decline gently.
Extra income from placing songs in film, TV, ads and games, on top of normal earnings.
Pricing
Future Earnings are discounted to a present value at the rates below, and separately priced at a market multiple drawn from disclosed transactions.
The yearly return a buyer requires. Independent valuers used 8.5% for listed catalog funds.
Growth assumed after year 10. It drives about half the value, so keep it modest and below the discount rate.
Extra return required when a few songs carry the catalog. Here the top 10 tracks are 28% of listening.
Comparable transactions
The set of disclosed deals the market multiple is drawn from.
Price paid per dollar of yearly earnings: 12.75×–18.30× across 3 category transactions.
Catalog Underwriter
Prepared from public evidence18 Oct 2026
Evidence date