Deftones sell bulk of music publishing rights to Warner Music Group

Deftones have become the latest high-profile artist to sell the bulk of their music rights to a major publishing company.

As reported by Billboard, four of the five members of the band have sold their share of master recording royalties and publishing rights to Warner Music Group, with the remaining member to keep his share.

The deal may have taken place at any time over the past two years, with Billboard estimating that they are likely to have fetched between $40million and $75million (£29-55million), depending on when the terms were finalised.

Warner Music Group already owned the original master recordings from the band’s career, and Warner Chappell was already the publisher, but as a result of the deal, Warner will retain most of the royalties due from the catalogue.

Many big name musicians have been selling their back catalogues and publishing rights to such companies in recent years. In 2021, Bruce Springsteen signed a deal worth approximately $500million for his entire music library, while Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Neil Young and Jack White have made similar deals.

More recently, Slipknot sold their catalogue to HarbourView Equity Partners for $120million, while other recent deals include Pink Floyd for $400million, as well as Queen, KISS and Tame Impala.

Deftones released their 10th studio album ‘Private Music’ last summer, which NME awarded the full five stars and said: “Very much a whole journey through a full-bodied and expansive fever dream, but this time somehow spiritual, intimate and direct, Deftones’ 10th album is a gift for fans old, new, and certainly finding them in the very distant future. Their peers can’t touch them.”

It was later named as one of NME’s albums of 2025, while its epic single ‘Milk Of The Madonna’ also made our Top 50 Songs of 2025 list.

The Sacramento band will also be playing a run of UK and European arena shows this year, including London’s O2 in February, before a trip to Australia and New Zealand with Interpol in May. They then have a headline performance at All Points East presents Outbreak Fest in London, where they will be joined by the likes of IDLES and Amyl & The Sniffers.

Speaking to NME last summer, frontman Chino Moreno said Deftones’ music had always been vulnerable, pointing back to ‘Mascara’ on ‘Around The Fur’ as proof. He also admitted that his confidence to lay himself out in a love song had grown.