Sean “Diddy” Combs “can’t stop, won’t stop” — and for now he won’t stop when it comes to plans to keep his music catalog, during a time that many of his musical peers have sold theirs.
Dr. Dre, for example, is looking to sell part of his music catalog for a whopping $250 million.
During a recent episode of the “Trapital Podcast,” Tarik Brooks, the president of Combs Enterprises, said the billionaire rapper is not in any rush to sell his music portfolio. And the reason why seems to be the potential of future profits.
Hanging on to his hits
“People have continually come through with offers and opportunities, and we’ve purposely taken our time as we’ve thought about what Puff’s experience is going to be over the next 10 years as he climbs his second mountain,” Brooks told host Dan Runcie.
“For us, we’re in no rush to get rid of a portfolio that could be a part of [music’s evolution],” he continued. “Who knows how you think about those assets in the future?”
Estimates on how much Diddy’s personal music catalog is worth, or how much the Bad Boy Records catalog might be worth don’t seem to be available. In 2005, P. Diddy sold a 50 percent stake in Bad Boy Records to the Warner Music Group. The deal was reportedly valued at $30 million.
Diddy, according to Brooks, wants to maximize his music catalog with additional features.
“We have the benefit of being able to go slow and kinda take our time and basically run experiments at our own pace to figure out what we want to do,” he added. “People have continually come through with offers and opportunities, and we’ve purposely taken our time as we’ve thought about what Puff’s experience is going to be over the next 10 years as he climbs his second mountain.”
Bad Boy
According to Complex, as of 2016, Bad Boy Records sold more than 400 million records worldwide and secured at least 38 platinum and multi-platinum singles.
Bad Boy Records was a leading source of innovative music throughout the ’90s and 2000s. Artists signed under Diddy included Notorious B.I.G, Ma$e, Faith Evans, 112, Total, The LOX and others.
One of Diddy’s newest talents includes his son King Combs. King recently enjoyed the hit “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” with Kodak Black as it went to No. 1 in November 2022. Diddy’s “Gotta Move On” with Bryson Tiller also went to No. 1 on separate charts the same month, according to TMZ. That made them the first father-son duo in music history to achieve this, Complex reported.
Why Some Artists are Selling Their Music Catalogs
As Finurah previously reported, artists have a variety of reasons why they want to relinquish their rights to their creative work. Some want the money now and up front rather than spread out over years and years. Some other artists cash in on their catalogs as a form of retirement.
It’s also a good time to sell, according to seasoned music industry executive Serona Elton, who has worked with complex music royalties and licensing.
“All of a sudden, the market is crazy, and everybody’s paying ridiculous sums of money — the kind of stuff you never thought you’d see. And people worry it’s a bubble. Maybe it will stay that way. You know, maybe that’s the right time to sell,” she told NPR.
