Legendary hitmaker T-Pain recently sold his music catalog to HarbourView Equity Partners for a whopping $100 million. During a recent interview, T-Pain explained how past industry scars and his family's future influenced his decision to make the massive sale.
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The "Buy U a Drank" singer told his Twitch chat that, despite people questioning his decision online, the lucrative sale of his publishing catalog provides immense financial security for his family.
"Let me tell you something," began T-Pain, whose real name is Faheem Rashad Najm. "When streaming started, nobody told us, or nobody came to any artist and said, 'Hey, we're about to put your s*** on streaming platforms. How much do you want your music to cost?' Suddenly, out of nowhere and without anybody's consent, all of our music went from a dollar a song to 0.003 cents per play. Nobody asked us s***."
"Now imagine that that gets lower and lower as life goes on. My catalog is worth less and less and less and less without any kind of consent from me, without anybody asking me if that's what I want to charge for my music," added the "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" hitmaker. "You think I want to leave that to my kids?"
T-Pain Defends Decision to Sell Music Catalog
T-Pain previously lost a $40 million fortune to bad investments. Plus, with streaming companies offering literal pennies on the dollar for music rights, T-Pain didn't want to risk financial hardship again.
"Out of all this s--- that I've told y'all that's happened to me in this f---in' industry, you think I'mma leave my kids' life and their future in the hands of the music industry? You got me f---ed up. I've got to figure something out."
The Grammy winner added, "I'm not leaving my kids' future in the hands of the music industry at f---in' all. I know exactly what I want. I know exactly how much I want right now. Exactly what I would need to live out the rest of my life. And if I get that and I'm satisfied with that. I'm content. I'm not looking for more."
