The rock band Pink Floyd has agreed to sell its rights to recorded music, name and image to Sony Music for approximately 400 million dollars (362 million euros), as reported Variety.
The deal has been finalized despite decades of infighting among band members, particularly lead songwriters Roger Waters and David Gilmour. Also involved are drummer Nick Mason and the estate of keyboardist Richard Wright and founder Syd Barrett. The operation joins similar movements carried out by other artists. The Pink Floyd operation includes the rights to recorded music, but not composition rights, which belong to individual writers, as well as name and image, which includes rights to merchandisingtheatrical and similar.
In recent years many musicians have done the same with their catalogues. own Variety makes a list of recent acquisitions, from the 100 million dollars that Iconic Artists paid for Rod Stewart’s catalog to the 1,200 that Warner paid for Tom Petty, through the 1,270 that Sony itself paid for Queen’s.
Sony has spent more than $1 billion on catalogs from artists such as Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan in recent years, although it has not officially commented on these deals. The sale of Pink Floyd has been affected by several internal tensions, especially Roger Waters’ controversial political statements regarding Israel, Ukraine and Russia, which scared off several potential buyers and decreased the value of the catalogue. David Gilmour expressed his desire to sell quickly to avoid further arguments, while Nick Mason expressed frustration at continued disputes between members.
Pink Floyd’s catalog of recorded music is one of the most valuable in contemporary music, with classic albums such as Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, Wish You Were Here, Animals, Meddle, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, More and more.