What were David Bowie's 1997 asset-backed securities called?

What were David Bowie's 1997 asset-backed securities called? The answer is Bowie Bonds.

Issued in 1997, Bowie Bonds were securities backed by the present and future royalty income from 25 David Bowie albums recorded before 1990. The deal allowed Bowie to receive $55 million upfront in exchange for assigning investors the royalty cash flow for a set period, rather than waiting years for those royalties to arrive.

The transaction was arranged with investment banker David Pullman and purchased by Prudential Insurance Company of America. The royalties from the covered recordings were used to pay interest and principal, turning music-catalogue income into a tradable financial product. Bowie reportedly used the money to acquire rights connected to songs owned by his former manager.

Bowie Bonds became a landmark example of intellectual-property securitization and inspired similar deals involving other artists. They are sometimes described as a sale of Bowie's entire catalogue, but that is inaccurate: the bonds covered royalties from a defined group of recordings for roughly ten years. The bonds were liquidated in 2007 as planned, and the income rights reverted to Bowie.