In a rare interveiw for the Wall Street Journal, Bob Dylan shares his thoughts on how technology might represent the end of civilization, the music he likes, as well as creativity - "When we’re inventing something, we’re more vulnerable than we’ll ever be. Eating and sleeping mean nothing. We’re in 'Splendid Isolation', like in the Warren Zevon song; the world of self, Georgia O’Keeffe alone in the desert. To be creative you’ve got to be unsociable and tight-assed. Not necessarily violent and ugly, just unfriendly and distracted. You’re self-sufficient and you stay focused".

Bob Dylan has sold the master rights to his entire recorded music catalog to Sony Music Entertainment, in a deal worth over $200 million, by Billboard estimate. In 2020, Dylan sold the publishing rights of his entire catalog to Universal Music Publishing in a deal that’s estimated to be worth over $300 million. Songs have two copyrights: recorded rights (which include master tracks) and publishing rights (which pertain to composition—i.e., music and lyrics). Rolling Stone puts it simply: “Recorded rights are tied more directly to streaming and sales royalties while publishing rights pertain more to performances and use in film and television”.

Boomer rock acts such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac and Paul Simon have made the biggest splash selling their music catalogs for 9-figure sums. Synchtank explores the possibility of catalogs of hip-hop artists reaching those levels. Trapital's Dan Runcie believes hip-hop catalogs are indeed undervalued and that the "music that came out from the mid-90s to mid-2010s will be especially popular with the Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z. Some investors may undervalue hip-hop because they identify more with Paul Simon than Paul Wall. Another group of investors will recognize the opportunity".

"There’s a vast array of different kinds of Dylan covers: R&B singers love relaxing into the contours of 'Lay Lady Lay'; country singers like his rootsy stuff; indie-rockers key into his sad side; heroic rock singers love scaling the peaks of open-ended classics - like 'It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue' or 'Like a Rolling Stone' - finding their own way to make new meanings amidst the intersecting, and often contradictory, emotions and ideas that can roil around within one Dylan song" - Rolling Stone writes introducing their selection of 80 best Bob Dylan covers, from Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, and the Byrds to William Shatner, Adele, and the Roots.

The New Yorker is highlighting a selection of their pieces celebrating Bob Dylan's big birthday. "In 'The Crackin’, Shakin’, Breakin’ Sounds', from 1964, Nat Hentoff visits Dylan in the studio and catches the artist in the first stages of his meteoric recording career. ('Wiry, tense, and boyish, Dylan looks and acts like a fusion of Huck Finn and a young Woody Guthrie. Both onstage and off, he appears to be just barely able to contain his prodigious energy'). In 'The Wanderer', Alex Ross follows Dylan on the road during his Never Ending Tour, which has defined the most recent decades of his seminal performances ('It’s hard to pin down what he does: he is a composer and a performer at once, and his shows cause his songs to mutate, so that no definitive or ideal version exists. Dylan’s legacy will be the sum of thousands of performances, over many decades')".

Fiona Apple covers Sharon Van Etten’s 'Love More' for Van Etten's 'Ten' anniversary reissue, adding heartbeat drums and subtle piano to the song; Low cover Bob Dylan’s 'Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door' for the Uncut compilation 'Dylan Revisited'; The Black Keys share their version of 'Crawling Kingsnake' by Big Joe Williams, from their album of Mississippi hill country blues standards 'Delta Kream', out May 14.

The wife and the publishing company of Jacques Levy, who co-wrote 7 of 9 songs from Bob Dylan’s 1976 album 'Desire', are suing the songwriter for $7.25m, the New York Post reports. Levy estate's lawsuit claims that Dylan owes Levy’s family 35% of income from the songs he co-wrote for 'Desire' – 'Hurricane', 'Isis', 'Mozambique', 'Oh, Sister', 'Joey', 'Romance in Durango' and 'Black Diamond Bay'. Dylan’s has recently sold his songwriting catalogue to Universal Music for a reported $300m.

The big news about Bob Dylan selling his entire songwriting catalog to Universal (for somewhere in between $300 and $400 million), got a fresh perspective in the Rolling Stone - why did Universal buy it? It seems the major music companies feel they need to take a stand against upstarts like Hipgnosis Songs and Primary Wave, which have been spending hundreds of millions of dollars buying songwriters' catalogs. This big spending spree is likely to continue as "music rights become one of the most reliable growth assets of the pandemic era".

Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks sold 80% of her songwriting catalog for an estimated $80 million, Wall Street Journal reported. Ms. Nicks’ sale coincides with the recent buzz around 'Dreams' fueled by a viral TikTok video. To put this in perspective, pop-rock band Imagine Dragons sold their catalog for more than $100 million, while Bob Dylan sold his entire catalog for $300 million.

Bob Dylan has sold his entire songwriting catalogue to Universal Music for $300 million, according to the New York Times. The deal gives Universal the ownership of over 600 Dylan's songs spanning a period of almost six decades, starting with early classics such as ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’, ‘The Times They Are A-Changing’ and ‘Like A Rolling Stone’, all the way through to 2020’s ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’. The deal means that Universal now controls one of the most celebrated back catalogues in history, and does not have to share future revenues with any other songwriters.Let's hope