Red Hot Chili Peppers sell music catalog for $300 million

Warner Music Group has acquired the band’s entire recorded music catalog, which spans 40 years and 13 studio albums.

By Miranda Wollen  |  May 11, 2026 | 3:18pm
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Music News Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers sell music catalog for $300 million

According to Billboard, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have sold their entire recorded music catalog to Warner Music Group for more than $300 million dollars, after WMG acquired the catalog through a $1.2 billion joint venture with investment firm Bain Capital. The Chili Peppers first sold its publishing rights to Hipgnosis, now known as Recognition Music Group, in 2021 for $140 million. Sony Music Group will acquire Recognition for $4 billion with funds managed by Blackstone, as announced today by the group. The band has been signed to Warner Records since 1991, when the label released Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The group’s first four albums were released via EMI. 

The Red Chili Peppers’ recorded catalog generates approximately $26 million annually in revenue and previously belonged to the group itself. The band, one of the biggest rock groups of all time, has an enormous catalog including “Scar Tissue,” “Californication,” and “Can’t Stop.” The band started shopping its catalog around last year, reportedly having sought $350 million for everything from 1984’s The Red Hot Chili Peppers to 2022’s Return of the Dream Canteen. The Warner acquisition of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ catalog is the latest in a growing trend of investors acquiring artists’ complete works, including copyrights to compositions and sound recordings. Previously, Justin Bieber and Bruce Springsteen have been among the artists who’ve sold their publishing rights.

 
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