In a massive sale, the estate of Quincy Jones‘ has sold parts of his expansive catalog to investment firm HarbourView.
In sum, selected music and non-music material, including recorded music and publishing rights owned by the late producer and musician were obtained in an acquisition deal.
According to Vibe, Jones’ stakes in the trilogy of Michael Jackson albums that he produced in “Off The Wall,” “Thriller,” and “Bad” were part of the deal as one of his best solo compositions, “Soul Bossa Nova,” the record Ludacris sampled for “Number 1 Spot.” It also includes his stake in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and George Benson’s 1980’s smash hit, “Give Me The Night.”
“Our father was endlessly curious and always ahead of his time,” Jones’ daughter, actress Rashida Jones, said in a statement. “Long before anyone talked about ‘multi-platform,’ he was already building bridges and connecting the dots across music, film, television, publishing, technology and culture, creating iconic juggernauts like ‘Thriller,’ ‘The Color Purple,’ ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,’ and Vibe.”
“What made him extraordinary,” she added, “was his ability to see around corners and bring together the right people, ideas, and sounds to create timeless work again and again. As his children, our responsibility is to protect not only the catalog, but the spirit and love behind it. HarbourView understands that legacy and has the vision and expertise to help ensure that future generations can feel the full scope of his everlasting impact.”
The deal also includes rights to Jones’ name, image and likeness.
The virtuoso who had a hand in everything from film production to composing, television and more, died in November 2024 at the age of 91. He is widely considered one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century in terms of music and worked with everyone from Sinatra to Jackson. His extensive catalog also includes stakes to hit songs by Kanye West (“Good Life”) and Tupac Shakur (“How Do U Want It”) due to samples.
“He’s an omnipresent force in creative spaces,” HarbourView’s CEO Sherrese Clarke told Rolling Stone. “We’ve got a number of iconic works in our portfolio, but adding someone like this to how we see our job as stewards and holders of canons of work for future generations, it felt like a blessing.”
Artists like T-Pain and James Fauntleroy made similar deals with HarbourView, selling their catalogs to the company for millions of dollars.
