Last week, two prominent alternative rock artists made headlines: Jack White sold a stake in his copyrights to Sony Music Group, while Morrissey announced plans to sell his own.

Although White’s various musical projects generate commercial activity comparable to The Smiths’ catalog, according to Luminate data, he’s likely to enjoy a larger payout than Morrissey — even if the latter succeeds in selling his music. That’s because White owns his master recordings, and The Smiths don’t.

The Smiths averaged 471,000 album consumption units annually in the U.S. from 2022 through 2024, outperforming The White Stripes, who averaged 302,000 units per year during the same period. But when sales and streaming from White’s other projects are added in — 128,000 units for his solo catalog, 48,000 units for The Raconteurs and a little more than 8,000 units for The Dead Weather, Luminate data shows — the combined total is slightly larger than The Smiths’ catalog, coming to an annual average of 486,000 album consumption units over that same period.

But when it comes to global on-demand streaming, The Smiths have a much bigger presence, annually averaging 1.43 billion plays over the last three years, versus White’s combined annual average of 1.1 billion plays. However, White’s catalog is much stronger in vinyl, where every sale delivers a huge payday — thus offsetting the larger revenue that The Smiths’ oversized streaming performance delivers. 

Using Luminate data, industry wholesale pricing and extrapolated percentages for global activity, Billboard estimates that White’s combined recorded master revenues and The Smiths’ recorded catalog each averaged about $11 million to $12 million annually between 2022 and 2024.

Furthermore, Billboard estimates — extrapolated by using industry publishing revenue percentages for licensing revenue not derived from recorded masters activity — that the recording catalogs of The Smiths and the collective projects of White each brought in about $4 million in total publishing royalties annually over that same three-year period.

But there the similarities between the two catalogs end.

As noted, White owns his recordings, either wholly or, in the case of The White Stripes, a 50% stake, with Meg White owning the other half of that band’s recorded master catalog, according to sources. The Smiths’ master recordings are currently owned by Warner Music Group, which acquired them from the band’s original label, Rough Trade, in the 1990s, according to sources and recent reports. Consequently, White realizes a much bigger chunk of revenue — potentially up to 80% after distribution and marketing fees are subtracted but before royalties paid to band members — from the commercial activity generated by his various activities as a recording artist.

Meanwhile, as a member of The Smiths, Morrissey likely receives about one-quarter of the band’s royalties. Considering record contracts back in the 1980s and 1990s, the band is lucky if it was receiving a 25% rate, so Morrissey’s take would amount to roughly 4.25% of total revenue. Morrissey’s bigger payday would likely come from publishing, as he co-wrote all of The Smiths’ songs with guitarist Johnny Marr. If the two share ownership of the publishing rights, each is entitled to 50% of the revenue it generates, after deducting administration fees. But even if they don’t own their publishing, the publishing royalties are only split two ways, so they still likely deliver a bigger payday to Morrissey than his artist royalties. 

That brings up another difference between what White may have sold to Sony versus what Morrissey hopes to sell. In Morrissey’s case, he is not just looking to sell publishing and recorded masters income, but, according to a post on his website entitled “A Soul For Sale,” he indicates he intends to sell “all of his business interests in The Smiths… including full and exclusive rights to” the band’s name, artwork, merchandising rights, synchronization rights, songs, recordings and publishing. He wrote that The Smiths’ songs lead to unwanted business communications with his former bandmates, who he said he was “burnt out by,” so he wanted a clean break to protect himself and his health. That post also listed an email address that is apparently no longer functioning, so Morrissey couldn’t be reached for comment.

In the meantime, White has sold an undisclosed stake in his catalogs to Sony, as first reported by The Hollywood Reporter and confirmed to Billboard by sources. Sony is the logical buyer for White’s catalog, as it has distributed many of his recordings with his various projects — primarily through its Legacy catalog label — with some titles also handled by its Orchard subsidiary, according to retailers. Meanwhile, according to the Amazon listings, some of White’s titles are also credited as being sold by his Third Man Records label, and at least one of White’s solo titles is distributed by Secretly Distribution, according to a retail sources.

According to sources, both artists explored selling music assets in the two years leading up to their recent activity. When White’s catalog was shopped, it included both master recordings and publishing rights from his various projects. He aimed to retain a substantial stake — selling 50% while keeping the other half.

That is known as a split rights deal. In a recent conversation with Billboard, Michael Poster — music acquisition and financing chair at Michelman & Robinson — explained that “split rights” deals are increasingly common. The logic, he said, is to “keep the sellers and buyers aligned so everyone will help promote” the music and help grow catalog revenue.

This approach allows music creators to receive a big payday while still maintaining a steady income stream. In White’s case, he continues to earn from other assets, too — such as his Third Man label, vinyl manufacturing operations and retail stores — which could also be sold in the future for significant returns.

Crucially, sources say that when White explored selling his catalog two years back, a key condition was retaining control over his music. A 50% sale structure, with carefully worded contract terms, would allow him to do just that.

So, what kind of payday would these artists receive from a sale? According to a financial source familiar with the White deal, if White had sold the full package of assets he was shopping two years ago — which were the master recordings and publishing from his various projects — he could have earned tens of millions. However, it’s unclear what was included in his recent sale to Sony. So, while it may have been the same deal as previously shopped, it’s also possible he sold only a minority stake, as Sony is known for buying stakes in some of its distributed labels as a way to anchor them to its distribution umbrella. It’s also unknown if the Sony deal included any publishing rights.

On the other hand, Morrissey’s attempt to shop his Smiths-related assets likely would have resulted in a smaller payday. Sources say he previously pursued a more private route, without publicly announcing his intent. At the time, one financial buyer passed on the opportunity, citing low income potential — possibly under $1 million in net annual income. (That source did not specify whether Morrissey was offering publishing rights, artist royalties or both.) At that income level, a deal might have yielded a $10–$15 million payout, but it would fall well short of the tens of millions of dollars that White could have earned had he proceeded with a sale back then.

The latest effort by Morrissey to sell his assets has already turned off some potential buyers, sources tell Billboard. For one, conflicting things Morrissey has said at different times about what Smiths music rights he owns versus what Smiths rights Marr owns may mean convoluted ownership trails that would make due diligence difficult. Another factor in passing the previously deal offering, according to the financial buyer who passed on looking at his assets two years ago, is the mercurial nature of Morrissey, some of which is on display in his website posting, observes another music asset buyer.

Elizabeth Dilts Marshall contributed reporting.