The latest supergroup to sell off their musical assets, Pink Floyd have reportedly sold their music catalogue to Sony Music Entertainment for $400,000,000.00
On Tuesday (10.1,) editors at The Financial Times reported that the iconic British rock band had agreed to sell their recorded music and name-and-likeness rights to the music giant.
According to sources close to the deal told the outlet that only recorded rights were included in the deal, but not for those related to the group’s songwriting as they are held by the individual writers. It was also indicated that owning the band’s likeness will allow Sony to profit from the sale of merchandise and other future projects, such as potential TV shows or films.
Considered by many to be the greatest progressive rock band of all time, Pink Floyd was formed in London in 1965. The original line-up included Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, and Richard Wright and the group’s hit full lengths include The Dark Side of the Moon (1973,) Animals (1977,) and 1979’sThe Wall.
Despite a protracted hiatus and ongoing conflicts between the surviving band members, Gilmour and Mason reformed Pink Floyd in 2022 to release the track ‘Hey, Hey, Rise Up!’ to protest the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.
In an August interview with Rolling Stone, the now 78-year old Gilmour, 78, stated that he wasn’t interested in the music catalogue sale for financial reasons but more “to be rid of the decision making and the arguments that are involved with keeping it going.”
In recent years, Sony executives have spent millions of dollars purchasing the catalogues of high-profile artists like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and Queen.
At press time, representatives for Pink Floyd (who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996) and Sony Music Entertainment have not yet commented on the report.
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Crisco 1492