Bowie Bonds

Bowie Bonds

An issue of bonds with a 10 year maturity collateralized by the royalties on all 25 albums David Bowie released before 1990. David Bowie issued the Bowie bonds in 1997 in order to raise the capital to buy the rights to a number of his songs owned by his former manager. In exchange, Bowie gave up the royalties to the songs he did own for a period of 10 years. Since 2007, Bowie has owned the royalties to all of his songs. Bowie bonds were one of the first bond issued collateralized by intellectual property, though several such bonds have been issued since.

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Bowie Bonds

Debt securities collateralized by future earnings of singer David Bowie's song catalog. Issued in 1997, Bowie Bonds established a new category of securitized debt in which entertainers sold future royalties to investors. Similar bonds were subsequently created for the song catalogs of James Brown, the Isley Brothers, and the estate of Marvin Gaye.