Max Martin, Shellback Sell Catalog, Including Taylor Swift Songs

Max Martin and Shellback’s Wolf Cousins, a songwriting collective the two producers founded, have entered a partnership with investment firm HarbourView Equity Partners. The deal includes HarbourView acquiring a selection of compositions by Wolf Cousins.

The songs include hits by Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, the Weekend, and other artists. The acquisition price reportedly ranges in a low nine figures, according to Variety sources, although this was not confirmed by HarbourView. The investment firm told the outlet it does not disclose terms for its deals.

“At HarbourView, we invest in culturally relevant intellectual property and the visionary creators behind it,” said Sherrese Clarke, founder and CEO of HarbourView Equity Partners, via Variety. “Max Martin and Shellback continue to hold their place as hitmakers in contemporary music, and through Wolf Cousins they have built an extraordinary creative ecosystem spanning generations and genres. We are proud to partner with them and help steward the legacy of this remarkable catalog.”

“Wolf Cousins was founded to bring songwriters and producers together in an environment built on collaboration, mentorship, and creative development,” Shellback and Martin said in a statement. “HarbourView’s long-term vision and respect for creators make them a natural partner for this body of work.”

In addition to Martin and Shellback, the Wolf Cousins collective includes songwriters and producers such as Ilya Salmanzadeh, Oscar Holter, Tove Lo, Ludvig Söderberg, Jakob Jerlström, Oscar Görres, Ali Payami, Robin Fredriksson, and Mattias Larsson.

Among the songs acquired in the HarbourView/Wolf Cousins partnership are Taylor Swift’s “Style” and “… Ready for It?”; Ariana Grande’s “Problem,” “Into You,” and “No Tears Left to Cry”; The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face”; Imagine Dragons’ “Believer”; Ellie Goulding’s “Love Me Like You Do”; Tove Lo’s “Habits (Stay High)”; and DNCE’s “Cake by the Ocean.” 

The acquisition is one of many high-profile music-catalog gets for HarbourView since it formed in 2021. Among them are catalog deals with the Quincy Jones estate, Slipknot, Kelly Clarkson, the Christine McVie estate, and Pat Benatar, among others. It has acquired more than 70 music catalogs to date.