Kanye West just compared himself to Taylor Swift

Kanye West has refuted reports that his publishing catalog is being put up for sale, comparing the situation to Taylor Swift's catalog woes.

On Monday (19 September), Billboard released a report that said the entrepreneur and rapper is looking for 35 times the catalog's gross profit, which is higher than the usual 30 times most songwriters typically ask for and rarely get, even in many high-profile instances.

The outlet also estimated the songs in the catalog generate $13.25m a year in publishing royalties.

Sources also claimed that West earns $5m from his share, which equates to a catalog worth roughly $175m.

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Billboard also reported that the sale of the songs is being administered by Sony Music, with sources telling them that the sale efforts have significantly decreased in recent months.

Others said West did not routinely seek a sale for his catalog but did get offers for it.

Following the report, the creative took to his Instagram Story the next day (20 September) to clear the air.

"Just like Taylor Swift. My publishing is being put up for sale without my knowledge. Not for sale," he wrote.

Swift has previously explained that she lost the right to purchase ownership of her masters from Big Machine Records, which is the label she first signed to when she began her music career.

The masters were then sold to music manager Scooter Braun, who denied that the American singer-songwriter was unaware of the deal, Variety reported.

Braun ended up passing the ownership to Shamrock Capital.

As a result, Swift felt compelled to re-record and re-release some of her most legendary albums to reclaim some of her ownership.

It isn't clear which, if any, albums West owns the masters of.

The artist has previously called out Universal Music Group and Sony/ATV Music Publishing, explaining that his record deals with the company and the music industry was unfair.

Last week, West said that he wanted to end his long-term partnership with Adidas and his newer relationship with Gap.

However, he has also recently said that he would be open to "co-parenting" products Adidas in the future.

"There's a possibility (we) can co-parent products that we make. But, not in a way where I'm not getting say-so over Colorways, and where they're treating me like I'm dead," West told Forbes.

Indy100 reached out to West's team for comment.

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