Variety says...

Alice in Chains members Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney, Mike Inez and William DuVall have sold their catalogs with the band to Round Hill Music, a rep for the company has confirmed. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but sources tell Variety the deal was for $50 million.

The Round Hill deal does not encompass copyrights belonging to the estates of original singer Layne Staley or original bassist Mike Starr, who passed away in 2002 and 2011, respectively; on Monday their respective estates announced they had sold their music rights to Primary Wave.

Round Hill will receive a 100% interest in the four current members’ copyrights to Alice In Chains’ masters and publishing — 94 compositions and 159 recordings — along with neighboring rights. The catalog includes such rock-radio staples as “Would?,” “Man in the Box,” “Them Bones” and “Rooster.” Alice in Chains compositions by Cantrell — the group’s main songwriter over the course of its entire career — are part of the pact, though his solo work is not.

“If you look at the grunge category, there was Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden,” says Josh Gruss, Round Hill’s founder and CEO. “There’s such a loyalty with the fan base and such quality to the music. Alice in Chains music still holds up really, really well, and there’s just nothing else like it.”

The sale comes amid a parade of catalog megadeals that have underscored the enduring value of music. Of last year’s 15 highest-paid musicians, ten made the cut by selling copyrights. Alice In Chains’ haul falls in the same range as the sums received by acts from Blake Shelton to Shakira to ZZ Top (though the exact nature of the copyrights involved differs).