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2025-07-01T15:58:52Z
Private equity firm Bain Capital is teaming up with Warner Music to re-enter the music industry.
Its first target: the full Red Hot Chili Peppers catalog, which could fetch more than $300 million.
Music has been a defensive investment for years amid economic and market turmoil.
Bain Capital is dreaming of Californication.
The private equity giant is in talks to re-enter the music industry through a partnership with Warner Music. Its first target? The entire Red Hot Chili Peppers catalog, which could fetch more than $300 million, according to the Financial Times.
If the purchase goes through, the deal would be part of a larger $1.2 billion partnership between Warner and Bain, with the intention of buying “legendary music catalogs,” according to a statement from Warner Music.
Bain is re-entering the music industry after helping buy out Universal in 2004, an era maligned by online piracy.
One driving force behind the collaboration is the resilient nature of music as an investment. This was even true during the COVID era, when music assets stayed “rock solid” and in some cases grew, Bain partner Angelo Rufino told the FT.
Goldman Sachs agrees, at least when it comes to live music. In research earlier this year, the firm said concerts are more recession-resilient than other forms of entertainment.
The Bain partnership is hardly Warner’s first foray into buying the music catalogs of iconic artists. The firm acquired David Guetta’s music for $100 million in 2021 and David Bowie’s catalog for $250 million in 2022.
Fellow PE giant Blackstone has recently made moves into music, acquiring the Hipgnosis Songs Fund in 2024. The fund’s past catalog purchases have included Neil Young and Shakira.
A spokesperson for the Red Hot Chili Peppers did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider. Warner Music and Bain declined to comment further on the partnership.
