Worldwide agreement covers iconic artist’s entire solo and The Police catalog
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) has announced the acquisition of 17-time GRAMMY Award winner Sting’s career catalog of music for a reportedly $250 million. This historic, comprehensive worldwide agreement for the catalog of one of the most commercially successful and critically-acclaimed songwriters of the last half-century encompasses the entirety of both Sting’s solo works as well as those with The Police, including “Roxanne,” “Every Breath You Take,” “Shape Of My Heart,” “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You,” “Fields Of Gold,” “Desert Rose,” “Message in a Bottle,” “Englishman in New York” and “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” among countless other global hits.
UMPG becomes the worldwide home of Sting’s extensive songwriting legacy, uniting his song catalog with his recorded music catalog under Universal Music Group (UMG) with this agreement. UMG has been Sting’s label home for his entire career through A&M, Interscope and Cherrytree Records. Together, UMPG and UMG will work with Sting to further build and expand his vast audience reach, strengthen the impact and influence of his timeless works, and continue supporting future music releases.
“I am delighted to have Jody and the team at UMPG curate and manage my song catalog,” Sting shares. “It is absolutely essential to me that my career’s body of work have a home where it is valued and respected – not only to connect with longtime fans in new ways but also to introduce my songs to new audiences, musicians and generations. Throughout my career, I have enjoyed a long and successful relationship with UMG as my label partner, under the watchful guidance of Lucian, so it felt natural to unite everything in one trusted home, as I return to the studio, ready for the next chapter.”
British-born composer, singer-songwriter, actor, author, and activist Sting has sold more than 100 million albums throughout his illustrious career and created some of the most recognizable and culturally impactful pop songs in recent decades. As co-founder, frontman and bassist of The Police, alongside Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers, Sting became one of the world’s best-selling artists. The Police released five studio albums between 1978 – 1983, earning six GRAMMY Awards and two Brit Awards. The band were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
Beyond his own critical and commercial success, Sting’s songs have remained a mainstay of pop culture with many of his songs being sampled to shape global hits. In 2018, Sting’s “Shape Of My Heart” was used in Juice WRLD’s “Lucid Dreams” which became one of the biggest records of the year. The song peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has since received more than 1.8 billion streams on Spotify. In 1997, The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” was sampled by Diddy in “I’ll Be Missing You” featuring Faith Evans and 112, and received the GRAMMY Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. The song spent eleven weeks atop the US Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one in 15 other countries.
A testament to the depth of his influence on countless new generations of performers, Sting’s works have also been sampled by artists including Nas, The Roots, 2Pac, RZA, Kygo & Avicii, Black Eyed Peas, Craig David, French Montana, Talib Kweli, Fugees and Cam’ron. Additionally, his songs have been covered by an array of the world’s most acclaimed artists including George Michael, Johnny Cash, Herbie Hancock, Isaac Hayes, Eva Cassidy, Violet Femmes, Gloria Gaynor, Shirley Bassey and Fall Out Boy, amongst others.
One of music’s most popular live performers, Sting will resume his My Songs world tour next month followed by his critically acclaimed Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in June 2022.
