Pink Floyd sells music rights to Sony for $400 million

After years of false starts, legendary British rock band Pink Floyd has agreed to sell its music recordings and name and likeness rights to Sony Music for about $400 million, sources confirm Diversity.

The deal, one of the largest of many in recent years, apparently finally came together despite decades of ongoing power struggles and bitter disputes between the band members, particularly chief songwriters Roger Waters and David Gilmour; Also included are drummer Nick Mason and the legacy of keyboardist Richard Wright and founding singer-songwriter Roger “Syd” Barrett. The deal includes recorded music rights, but not songwriting rights, which are held by individual authors, as well as name and likeness rights, which include merchandise, theatrical and similar rights. While Pink Floyd remained famously anonymous as personalities, most if not all of their iconic artwork is believed to be included on their albums, most of which were designed by the British company Hipgnosis.

While representatives for the band members and Sony declined or did not respond to requests for comment, the Financial Times, which first reported this latest iteration of the sale, wrote it as facts and sources familiar with the situation confirmed the deal Diversity.

On a purely business level, Pink Floyd's music catalog, not to mention its merchandising rights, is one of the most valuable in contemporary music, with classic albums such as Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall and Wish. “You Were Here,” “Animals,” “Meddle,” “Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” “More,” and more.

Sony has spent more than $1 billion on catalogs from Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Queen's non-North American rights in recent years (with backing from investment firms like Eldridge Industries) and has never officially commented on the deals. diversity and others reported just two weeks ago that the Pink Floyd transaction was nearing completion.

The catalog had been in play for several years, with a rumored price tag of $500 million, and the group was close to a deal in 2022, but bitter infighting arose between band members – particularly over controversial political issues Statements by main songwriter Roger Waters against Israel and Ukraine and in favor of Russia – have enormously complicated the deal and deterred a number of interested parties. There is no doubt that Waters' inflammatory comments, which made him the pariah of all but his biggest fans and cost him his solo record deal, devalued the catalog.

Surprisingly, the deal comes at a time when Israel's multi-front wars in the Middle East are reaching new heights of violence, leaving Sony facing intense criticism for paying such a large sum to Waters, who has vehemently denied being anti-Semitic Criticism of the governments of Israel, Ukraine and the United States as well as his strong expressions of support for Russia and Vladimir Putin have been clearly expressed.

Among many other provocative statements, Waters compared Israel to Nazi Germany and said Russia's invasion of Ukraine was “not unprovoked.” (Waters' 2022 concerts in Poland were canceled because of his comments about neighboring Ukraine.) “They are anti-Semitic to the core,” said Gilmour's wife, a novelist Polly Samson told Waters on Twitteramidst other colorful commentary; “Every word is demonstrably true,” Gilmour added. Waters dismissed her comments as “inflammatory and completely inaccurate.”

Gilmour recently told Rolling Stone that he was interested in selling less for financial reasons and more “to get rid of the decision-making and arguments involved in keeping the company going,” which he described as “my dream.” designated.

The companies that were close to a deal with the group in 2022 – reportedly Hipgnosis, Warner Music and BMG – have all undergone leadership changes since then (and earlier this year BMG dropped Waters from its roster as a solo artist). Waters' comments were a major factor in the deal's failure, although a number of other factors – including rising interest rates, tax problems and the falling value of the British pound – also played a role.

In the middle of the dispute is Mason, who said in 2018: “It's really disappointing that these rather older gentlemen are still at odds.”