David Bowie's entire music catalogue sold to Warner Music

Warner Music Group's publishingunit has bought late British rock star David Bowie's entirecatalogue spanning six decades, including hits such as Space Oddity, Ziggy Stardust, Heroesand Let's Dance.

Bowie, who pushed the boundaries of music and his own sanityto produce some of the most innovative songs of his generation,died in 2016 at 69.

The deal between Bowie's estate and Warner Music includessongs from the 26 studio albums released during his lifetime, aswell as the studio album Toy, released posthumously.

Deal reportedly worth about $250M US

Warner Music did not disclose the financial terms of thedeal in its announcement on Monday, but a person familiar withthe matter said the purchase was worth about $250 million US.

Bowie's estate had in September signed a deal that gave Warner Music global rights to the artist'scatalogue from 1968 through 2016.

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Bowie shot to fame in Britain in 1969 with Space Oddity, the lyrics of whichhe said were inspired by watching Stanley Kubrick'sfilm 2001: A Space Odysseywhile stoned.

But it was his portrayal of the character Ziggy Stardust, a doomed bisexual rockenvoy from space from the eponymous song on the albumThe Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Marsthat propelled Bowieto globalstardom beginning in 1972.

The deal for his catalogue is the latest in the media rightssector, where companies have sought to boost royalties bypurchasing artists'catalogues after the pandemic hit physicalrevenue streams and delayed the release of new recordings.

Warner Music, home to musicians such as Cardi B, Ed Sheeranand Bruno Mars, has also partnered with pop star Madonna torelaunch her entire catalogue over the next few years.

News of the dealcomes days before what would have been Bowie's 75th birthday on Jan. 8.