Tina Turner‘s music rights, which she sold to BMG in 2021 for $50 million, are on the move again.
Swedish company Pophouse Entertainment has acquired the rights to Turner’s name, image and likeness, as well as the majority of her catalog for an undisclosed amount. The company, known for its immersive entertainment ventures, namely through digital avatars, had long shown interest in doing more with Turner.
“One of the reasons that we were so interested in Tina is because she has such an incredible visual presence and such an incredible stage energy. And so, we’re very much looking at projects that can portray that and try to recreate that to some degree,” Pophouse CEO Jessica Koravos told the Associated Press.
She added, “What we want to do is really help to consolidate her legacy. I think that Tina Turner is up there, or is going to be up there, with the Elvises and the Marilyn Monroes of the world.”
Turner, who died in 2023, was known as the “Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll” and wowed audiences with her stage performance and hit songs such as “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” “Proud Mary,” “Private Dancer,” “The Best” and more. She won 12 Grammy Awards during her career and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice, first as a member of Ike & Tina in 1991 and as a solo act in 2021.
Shortly after her death, BMG and Pophouse began discussions about her catalog. While BMG still has a percentage of the catalog, according to Koravos, Turner’s estate was “as a counterparty but certainly involved and in the sense of informed and participating in the conversations.”
“Tina Turner’s voice and spirit shaped modern music and popular culture,” Alistair Norbury, president of BMG U.K., Continental Europe and APAC, wrote in a statement. “Our responsibility, alongside Pophouse and the Estate, is to ensure her work continues to resonate with audiences around the world, while remaining true to the strength, independence and originality that defined her career.”
Recently, the estate of Quincy Jones sold his name, image and likeness rights to investment firm HarbourVIew for an undisclosed amount.
