Big Loud has sold a stake in Morgan Wallen‘s recording catalog to Chord Music Partners, Billboard has confirmed.
“Big Loud has sold a minority stake in Morgan Wallen’s master recording catalog to Chord Music Partners, as part of a strategic investment to expand the label’s global footprint and fuel long-term artist development,” a Big Loud representative tells Billboard. “The deal was executed with the support of the internal Big Loud team, alongside partners at Chord Music, Republic Records & UMG, PLUS Capital, Eisner, Loeb & Loeb, DLA Piper, Dickinson Wright and Armanino.”
The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported the news, pegs the purchase price for the catalog stake at $200 million.
Chord Music Partners was formed in 2021 by KKR and Dundee Partners. In February 2024, Universal Music Group (UMG) acquired a 25.8% interest in the company while also taking over distribution and publishing administration for Chord’s catalog via Virgin Music Group and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), respectively. KKR exited Chord following the transaction, with Dundee increasing its share to 74.2%. Notably, Big Loud struck a multi-year distribution deal with UMG’s Mercury Records/Republic for all releases last March.
Representatives for Chord Music Partners and UMG did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s requests for comment.
At the time of the UMG acquisition, Chord owned more than 60,000 copyrights, including stakes in songs such as “Dreams” and “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac, “La Grange” by ZZ Top, “Counting Stars” and “Apologize” by OneRepublic, “Redbone” by Childish Gambino, “I Like Me Better” by Lauv, “Pursuit of Happiness” by Kid Cudi, “All Of Me” by John Legend, “Girls Like You” and “Sugar” by Maroon 5, “Halo” by Beyonce and “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri.
