In recent years, there have been more stories about artists selling the rights to their music catalogues for some nice paydays. It’s mostly older artists with large discographies that have aged like wine and continue to resonate with modern audiences, but some younger folks have decided to cash out, too. OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, for example, was one of 2021’s highest-paid musicians after selling his storied song catalogue — he co-wrote songs like Beyonce’s “Halo” and Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” — for $276 million.
Now, Julian Casablancas has decided that he too would like to get paid: Rolling Stone reports he has sold his stake in The Strokes’ catalog to Primary Wave for an undisclosed amount. The deal only includes Casablancas’ material with The Strokes, not his solo material or work with The Voidz.
While The Strokes haven’t been a huge chart success when it comes to singles — their sole song to make the Billboard Hot 100 is “Juicebox,” which peaked at No. 98 — they do have a number of tunes with staying power: “Last Nite,” “Reptilia,” and “Someday” have all been certified Platinum by the RIAA and they each have have over a quarter of a million streams on Spotify, with “Last Nite” currently sitting at a hair under 425 million plays. The band’s albums from the 2000s are also among the most revered of their era.
