David Guetta sells music catalogue to Warner Bros

The prolific French DJ said he was 'super-excited' about his new music, which will also be owned by the record label going forward

French DJ David Guetta, seen here at the MTV EMAs in 2018, sold his recorded-music catalogue to Warner Bros on June 17. Photo: AP 

French DJ David Guetta is the latest in an ever-growing line of artists selling their music to production companies and recording labels. Following in the footsteps of Bob Dylan – who gave up his 600-song catalogue to Universal Music last December in exchange for about $300 million – plus Paul Simon, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, Neil Young, David Crosby and Rod Stewart, Guetta has sold his recorded-music catalogue to Warner Bros for a rumoured $100 million.

Max Lousada, chief executive of recorded music for Warner Music Group, said in a statement: “It's rare for an artist to not only define a genre, but transform it. David has been doing that for over two decades. He continues to have an extraordinary impact on the evolution of dance music, while innovating and collaborating with new voices in dynamic ways.”

A Reuters report said Warner has acquired Guetta’s catalogue from the last two decades and will also sign a deal with him for future recordings, of which Guetta said he was “super-excited about the new music I’m working on”.

Guetta’s business partner and manager hinted that Warner was not the only party interested in the prolific DJ’s catalogue.

At 53, Guetta is one of the youngest artists to have his catalogue picked up by a record label, but that is perhaps unsurprising given that he's sold 50 million records and racked up more than 14 billion streams – a far cry from his penchant for the unauthorised remixing of David Bowie songs at the start of his career in Paris and Ibiza. Since then, The Grammy winner has given hits such as Titanium, When Love Takes Over and I Got A Feeling, and collaborated with artists including The Black Eyed Peas, Rihanna and Justin Bieber.

David Guetta in Dubai

Guetta owns a home in Dubai and has often performed in the emirate pre and mid-pandemic. His latest show was live-streamed from the Burj Al Arab helipad in February.

Part of the DJ’s United at Home series, the show raised funds to support education and distance learning for children, students and teachers affected by the pandemic, in collaboration with Unicef and Dubai Cares.

"You know, a lot of my colleagues stopped releasing records and performing during his time and I think we do owe it to the fans to give them something," Guetta told The National at the time. "We cannot forget that people also have to be entertained."