Public Enemy’s Chuck D sells publishing rights to over 300 songs

nme.com:

Public Enemy rapper Chuck D has sold a huge stake of his back catalogue to his longtime publisher.Reach Music has acquired 100 percent of the rapper’s writer royalties along with half of his copyright interest as a publisher.The sale doesn’t cover the entirety of Chuck D’s output, but it includes over 300 songs including Public Enemy’s most formative work released between 1987 and 2012.During that period, Chuck D and Public Enemy released several classic albums, including ‘It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back’, ‘Fear Of A Black Planet’ and ‘Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Back’.Chuck D co-wrote most of Public Enemy’s songs during this period, including the likes of ‘Bring The Noise’, ‘Fight The Power’, and ‘Welcome To The Terrordome’.“[D]oing this deal was the right timing for a forward and logical evolution of our business together in an ever changing industry,” Chuck D said in a statement via Rolling Stone. “Reach has always been ahead of the curve on establishing respect for the HipHop genre songwriting and publishing-wise, and they will continue taking care of my works.”Chuck D follows a number of artists who have sold their publishing rights in the last couple of years most notably Bruce Springsteen who sold his masters and publishing rights to Sony Music in a combined deal worth around $500million (£377m).Iconic musicians such as Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks and Neil Young also struck similar deals.Dylan sold his music to Universal Music Publishing Group for $300 million (£226 million) while Young made a deal with Hipgnosis Songs Fund, who bought 50 per cent of the rights to his back catalogue for an estimated $150 million (£113 million).Meanwhile, Chuck D recently joined Anthrax onstage for a performance of.