Giorgio Moroder Sells Producer Royalties to Iconoclast

Famed songwriter and “Father of Disco” Giorgio Moroder has sold his producer royalties to the brand development company Iconoclast, Variety reports.

The deal places Moroder’s name, image, and likeness rights in the hands of Iconoclast, so expect to hear Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” or Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” a lot more in advertisements. In addition to a prolific solo career, Moroder produced may of Summer’s disco classics as well as the Academy Award-winning Top Gun song.

Moroder’s other credits include Blondie’s “Call Me,” as well as the soundtracks to Cat People and Scarface. In the 1970s and ’80s, artists including Led Zeppelin, Queen, The Rolling Stones, and Elton John recorded at his Musicland Studios in Munich. Decades later, for his 2015 solo album Déjà Vu, Moroder enlisted Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears, Sia, and Charli XCX as collaborators. Even more recently, he lent a hand to Duran Duran’s LP FUTURE PAST. 

Selling the rights to one’s catalog has become a common move for aging artists in a music industry that becomes increasingly unsustainable. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and Sting are among the musicians to give up either all or a significant portion of their music for hundreds of millions of dollars.