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When Bad Bunny headlined the Super Bowl, his U.S. streams jumped 175% the next day, and every play paid his songs’ owners. Music royalties let investors own a slice of that income. This Alternatives Spotlight explains how songs earn money, why royalties move independently of stock markets, risks to weigh, and how WealthVerse Investments can add them to client portfolios.
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On February 8, 2026, Bad Bunny headlined the Super Bowl LX halftime show. Most people saw a concert. Investors who understand music royalties saw something else: a cash-flow event.
The next day, U.S. streams of his catalogue were up 175% versus the Monday before, according to Luminate. Globally, on-demand streams more than doubled, from 117 million to 271 million in a single day. On Spotify, his U.S. streams jumped 470% in the hours after the show, and older tracks like "Yo Perreo Sola" (2020) saw increases of more than 2,000%. Even guest performer Ricky Martin saw his own U.S. streams climb 145%.
Every one of those plays triggered a payment. The songwriters, the publishers, the labels and anyone else who owns a share of those songs got paid on each stream, each radio spin and each broadcast. That is the core idea behind music royalties as an investment: you own a piece of the song, and the song pays you every time someone presses play.
For most investors, "the market" means stocks and bonds. Those remain the core of a sound portfolio, but they are not the only places capital can work. Alternatives are assets whose returns come from something other than public market prices: real estate, private credit, infrastructure, and less familiar categories like music royalties.
This Alternatives Spotlight series looks at one of those categories at a time: how it works, why investors use it, and what to watch out for. Music royalties are a good place to start, because almost everyone already understands the product. You just may never have thought of a song as an asset.
Every song creates two separate copyrights, and each one earns its own income:
Those copyrights earn royalties whenever the music is used:
The key point for investors: each of those slices can be bought. A songwriter can sell their writer's share, a producer can sell their producer royalties, a publisher can sell a catalogue. The buyer then collects that income stream for as long as they own it.
1. Income that doesn't follow the stock market. People listen to music in bull markets and bear markets alike. In 2022, the S&P 500 fell about 19%, while global streaming revenue grew 11.5%. Across the last decade, annual S&P 500 returns and annual streaming revenue growth have shown almost no statistical relationship.
2. A subscription that behaves like a utility. Many households now treat a music subscription the way they treat a phone bill rather than a discretionary purchase. Spotify listeners are among the least likely to cancel of any major streaming service in the U.S. That stickiness supports steady, recurring royalty income.
3. A growing market. Global recorded music revenue reached US$31.7 billion in 2025, its 11th straight year of growth, according to IFPI. Streaming now generates more than US$22 billion of that, nearly 70% of the total, and there are 837 million paid subscription accounts worldwide, up from 752 million a year earlier. Paid streaming still reaches only a fraction of the world's population, with emerging markets growing fastest.
4. A very long-lived asset. In Canada, the U.S. and most major markets, copyright lasts for the life of the songwriter plus 70 years. A song written today can keep generating income for a century or more.
5. Low ongoing costs. Once a catalogue is acquired, the songs don't need factories, inventory or tenants. Most of the revenue flows through as income.
A new hit typically spikes in its first year or two, then drops off sharply. Buying at the peak means paying for streams that won't last. The more attractive window tends to be songs roughly 5 to 15 years old: old enough that listening has settled into a stable baseline, young enough that the audience is still active. Songs whose streams have already faded to near zero are generally avoided.
Beyond age, professional royalty investors screen for:
The upside surprises are what make the asset class interesting. A tour, a viral TikTok moment, a placement in a film or ad, or a cultural event like the Super Bowl can all lift income from songs bought years earlier. When Dior used Janis Joplin's 1960s recording of "Cry Baby" in its Miss Dior campaign, a song more than 50 years old found a new audience. When Canadian songwriter Gordon Lightfoot passed away in 2023, demand for his catalogue surged. A well-built portfolio does not price in these events at purchase, so when they happen, they are pure upside.
Music royalties are not risk-free, and they are not a replacement for a diversified core portfolio.
That is why access, scale and expertise matter. Sourcing, analyzing and administering catalogues is specialized work, and it is not something most individual investors can do on their own.
At WealthVerse Investments, we believe a well-built portfolio looks beyond public markets where it makes sense for the client. Through our investment platform, eligible clients can gain exposure to diversified, professionally managed music royalty portfolios, holding interests in thousands of songs across pop, rock, hip-hop, country, Latin and more, with income typically distributed monthly.
We don't treat alternatives as a novelty. We treat them as a tool: a way to add income that doesn't depend on interest rates or stock prices, and to reduce how much of a portfolio rides on any one market. Whether music royalties belong in your portfolio, and in what proportion, depends on your goals, your time horizon and how much liquidity you need. That is a conversation we have one client at a time.
The next time a song gets stuck in your head, or an artist takes the biggest stage in the world, remember: someone is getting paid for every play. It could be you.
Curious whether alternatives like music royalties fit your plan? Book a conversation with your WealthVerse advisor.
This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security, or financial, legal or tax advice. Alternative investments involve risk, including the potential loss of capital, and may have limited liquidity. Certain alternative investments are available only to eligible investors under an offering memorandum. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Speak with your advisor before making any investment decision.
Sources: Luminate and Spotify data via the Associated Press and Rolling Stone (Feb. 2026); IFPI Global Music Report 2026; Billboard (Feb. 2022); IFPI Global Music Report 2024; Antenna.
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