The “Baby One More Time” and “Toxic” singer sold her stake to the same publisher that owns the catalogs of Prince and Whitney Houston.

Britney Spears sells the rights to her hit-filled music catalog

The "Baby One More Time" and "Toxic" singer sold her stake to the same publisher that owns the catalogs of Prince and Whitney Houston.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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February 10, 2026 8:52 p.m. ET

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Britney Spears at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2016. Credit:

Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage

Britney Spears is cashing out.

The pop superstar known for such hit songs as "Baby One More Time," "Lucky," and "Toxic" has sold the rights to her extensive music catalog to the publisher Primary Wave, * *has confirmed.

Documents reviewed by TMZ, which first reported the news, did not specify the amount Spears was paid for her catalog, though it is thought to be in the ballpark of $200 million. ** has reached out to representatives for Spears and Primary Wave for comment.

Spears' catalog includes some of the biggest chart-toppers of the 21st century, and Primary Wave bills itself as the "the home of legends," having secured the rights to the work by musicians like Whitney Houston, Prince, Stevie Nicks, Bob Marley, John Mellencamp, and James Brown.

Britney Spears at the 2018 GLAAD Media Awards.

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

These days it isn't uncommon for artists to sell of full or partial rights to their music catalogs.

Nicks sold an 80-percent stake in her music to Primary Wave for an estimated $100 million in 2020. The company acquired the rights to about 60 songs by Houston in 2022, in a deal estimated between $50 million and $100 million. But the number can go even higher. Much higher, in fact, as Justin Bieber allegedly sold the rights to his catalog to the publisher Hipgnosis Songs Capital in 2022 to the tune of roughly $200 million.

Spears hasn't released a full album of music since 2016's *Glory*. Her most recent single, "Mind Your Business," marked her fourth collaboration with Black Eyed Peas alum Will.i.am and was released in 2023.**

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The following year, Spears announced that she would "never return" to the music industry, but also claimed a prolific side hustle as a ghostwriter, saying she had "written over 20 songs for other people the past two years!"

Still, Spears' impact as one of the aughts' leading pop luminaries is still felt — and widely referenced. Multiple artists paid tribute to the "Oops!… I Did It Again" singer at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, from Tate McRae recreating Spears' 2001 Dolce & Gabbana look from the 2001 VMAs red carpet to host Megan Thee Stallion showing up in a replica of Spears' serpentine "I'm A Slave 4 U" performance outfit from the same ceremony.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***

Plus, there's the upcoming Spears biopic from *Wicked* director Jon M. Chu, who stated last year that Spears is "going to be very involved" in adapting her memoir, *The Woman In Me*, for the big screen.****

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