David Crosby Just Sold His Music Catalog

Add David Crosby to the list of artists selling their music catalogs. Giants including Bob Dylan, Lindsey Buckingham, the Beach Boys, and Cosby's old collaborator Neil Young have sold all or parts of their catalogs recently, notes the Guardian. Crosby sold his rights to music exec Irving Azoff's Iconic Artists Group for an undisclosed sum, reports Pitchfork. The sale includes not only Crosby's solo work, but his work with the Byrds; Crosby & Nash; Crosby, Stills & Nash; and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. “Given our current inability to work live, this deal is a blessing for me and my family,” said Crosby in a press release, referencing the pandemic's restrictions on touring.

The 79-year-old telegraphed the move in a tweet late last year, as other big sales were making headlines. "I am selling mine also, " he wrote. "I can't work ... and streaming stole my record money. ... I have a family and a mortgage and I have to take care of them so it's my only option. ... I'm sure the others feel the same." Variety notes that the sale syncs with the 50th anniversary of Crosby's debut album as a solo artist, If I Could Only Remember My Name. Last week, the same company announced that it had bought a controlling stake in the Beach Boys catalog, again for an undisclosed sum. (Crosby recently lost his biological son, raised by Melissa Etheridge, to a drug overdose.)