Who Owns Elvis Music? Unraveling The King’S Legacy

Elvis Presley’s music is owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which acquired the RCA Records catalog in 2004. Sony continues to release Elvis’ music and projects under the RCA label. Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. (EPE) is a separate entity created by the Elvis Presley Trust to manage Elvis’s estate. This means EPE handles all business related to Elvis’ image and likeness, including his Graceland mansion, merchandise, and other assets.

You might wonder why Sony owns the recordings while EPE manages the rest of Elvis’s legacy. It all goes back to the 1950s when Elvis signed a contract with RCA Victor, a record company that later became part of RCA Records. The contract gave RCA exclusive rights to record and release his music, and this ownership continued even after Elvis’ death in 1977. When Sony acquired RCA Records in 2004, they inherited the ownership of Elvis’s recordings. At the same time, EPE was established to ensure that Elvis’s image and legacy would be managed in a way that would honor his memory.

So, while Sony controls the release of Elvis’ music, EPE manages the rest of his estate and works to keep his legacy alive. This careful separation of rights helps ensure that Elvis’s music and image are both protected and celebrated.