As reported by Music Business Worldwide, Pink Floyd has reportedly reached an agreement to sell their recorded music catalog to Sony Music for an estimated $400 million, sources have disclosed.
The deal is said to encompass Pink Floyd's recordings catalog, neighboring rights, and 'name and likeness' rights, while excluding publishing rights.
The Financial Times first broke the news on October 1st.
This development follows Sony's recent acquisition of rights for the iconic band Queen for over $1 billion earlier this year, which included publishing rights, 'name and likeness' rights, and recorded music rights outside of North America.
As previously disclosed by MBW in September, royalties from Pink Floyd's recorded music currently flow into two UK companies: Pink Floyd (1987) Limited and Pink Floyd Music Limited. The former is responsible for the band's recorded music catalog post-Roger Waters' departure in 1985, while the latter handles revenues for music recorded before Waters' departure.
Combined, these two entities generated revenues of £40.399 million during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023, equivalent to approximately $50 million.
Reports from 2022 indicated that Pink Floyd's catalog had garnered interest from potential buyers such as Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group, BMG, Hipgnosis, Concord, Primary Wave, and private equity group Blackstone. It was correctly anticipated that the deal would include recorded music rights and 'name and likeness' rights, but not music publishing rights.
In July, Apollo Global Management confirmed its role as the lead investor in a $700 million "capital solution" for Sony Music Group, intended to finance music industry investments.
Notably, Sony's approximately $550 million acquisition of Bruce Springsteen's publishing and recorded music catalog in 2021 was partially financed by Eldridge Industries.
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