Girl just wants to have funds? Cyndi Lauper monetizes catalog

investmentnews.com:

Singer Cyndi Lauper is selling her music catalog, including the 1980s hits True Colors and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, to Sweden’s Pophouse Entertainment Group AB as part of a project to create new outlets for the singer’s work.

The Swedish company — founded by ABBA star Bjorn Ulvaeus and EQT AB Chairman Conni Jonsson — said Thursday it acquired the rights to Lauper’s music for an undisclosed sum and is forming a joint venture with the singer to manage the catalog.

“I’ve had other companies approach me, and I really didn’t have any interest in selling my catalog,” Lauper, 70, said in an interview at Pophouse’s headquarters in Stockholm. “But this is different.”

The singer and the company aim to exploit her music through live shows, television and other projects. Keeping performers in front of the public, as Pophouse has successfully done with the legendary group ABBA, can protect and improve on the steady returns that song libraries produce.

Lauper, who has sold more than 50 million records over four decades, declined to comment on the financial terms of the deal, beyond saying Pophouse bought “a majority” of the catalog. She was enticed by the company’s ability to combine music and art through technology.

“I thought, ‘OK, they have energy and everyone is highly creative,’” Lauper said. “And it gives me the opportunity to grow my legacy as opposed to watching it on commercials. I have bigger plans.”

One of the creative projects being planned is an immersive theater experience that surrounds and pulls viewers in, following in the footsteps of ABBA Voyage. That show, which premiered in 2022, has sold more than 2.1 million tickets for performances featuring three-dimensional renderings of the four former band members. 

Popho