Pink Floyd and catalogue sales: here's what they really gave up to Sony Music
The $400 million deal does not cover copyright on the songs but masters, branding and covers produced by the Hipgnosis collective
2' min read
2' min read
After years of going around in circles due in particular to quarrels between former band members, Pink Floyd sold their recorded music and image rights to Sony Music for around USD 400 million. A 'half' sale but, considering the anthropological peculiarities of some of those involved in the game, definitely better than nothing.
Copyright out of the game
.The agreement in fact does not cover the copyright on the songs of the legendary British band ofThe Wall and The Dark Side of the Moon (which remains with the individual authors) but includes the masters (i.e. the recordings), the Pink Floyd brand, the right to produce merchandising in the band's name and works directly inspired by them, as well as the iconic album covers designed by the Hipgnosis collective. The fact that copyright was left out of the game is evidently due to the complexity of the relationship between Rogers Waters, the de facto ideologue of the band, and David Gilmour, the main singer from the late 1960s onwards.
Between Israel and the war in Ukraine
In these years of stop-and-go, Waters' words against Israel and in favour of Putin's Russia after the invasion of Ukraine weighed - as they still do. The deal, concluded while the situation in the Middle East has reached new heights of violence, exposes Sony Music to criticism, according to Variety. It will benefit drummer Nick Mason and the heirs of keyboardist Richard Wright and songwriter Syd Barrett, in addition to Waters and Gilmour.
Pink Floyd's catalogue includes some of the most listened-to tracks of the last 50 years such as Money, Wish You Were Here and Another Brick in the Wall. Queen's album, sold to Sony Music in June for $1 billion, was among the few still on the market and certainly among the most difficult for negotiators, delayed not only by disagreements between the band but also by tax issues and the value of sterling.
Gilmour's 'dream'
.Gilmour had recently told Rolling Stone that he was interested in selling, not so much for financial reasons, 'but to put an end to all the arguments that come with joint decisions'. This, he had added, 'would be my dream'.
