Pink Floyd sells entire catalogue to Sony Music for $400M ending years of bitter in-fighting over band’s legacy
As a music enthusiast with decades of experience under my belt, I must say that Roger Waters, the enigmatic bassist and songwriter from Pink Floyd, has always been a fascinating figure to me. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and leaving us with their final studio album “The Endless River” in 2014, Pink Floyd’s legacy continues to reverberate through the annals of rock music.
This week, it’s been reported that Pink Floyd has consented to transfer ownership of their extensive music library, along with their brand name and image, to Sony Music for a whopping $400 million.
The psychadelic band that won a Grammy has sold more than 250 million records globally, and four of their albums (The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, The Wall, and Atom Heart Mother) reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.
Contrarily to Sony Music, known for its joint ventures with artists like Queen, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen, won’t keep the songwriting copyrights. Instead, they will secure the rights for merchandise and potential film/TV adaptations, as per a report in Financial Times on Tuesday.
Two years ago, a disagreement over the tax structure involving Pink Floyd members (including Roger Waters), along with his contentious remarks regarding Israel and Ukraine, halted a potential $500 million deal with potential buyers such as Hipgnosis, Warner Music, and BMG.
For example, In a bold statement, the 81-year-old spoke about Israel’s actions towards Palestine, remarking that “the similarities to what transpired in Germany during the 1930s are strikingly apparent.” He also hypothesized that the Hamas attack on October 7th could have been a staged event, orchestrated to mislead.
Last year at the United Nations Security Council, Roger made a statement defending Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine as not entirely unprovoked. In response, BMG decided to terminate their association with him in January.
In 2022, Waters stated to Rolling Stone that the U.S. is “at least 10 times more wicked” than any other nation on earth, and he claimed that American and British Jewish communities have significant influence over Israeli policies due to their financial contributions.
In addition to Roger, the intricate agreement also encompassed guitarist-keyboardist David Gilmour, original drummer Nick Mason, the estates of the former keyboardist Richard Wright (who has passed away), and the late founder and lead vocalist, Roger ‘Syd’ Barrett.
Last month, Gilmour confirmed to the Washington Post that the sale was in the works.
The 78-year-old father of eight expressed regret, stating that his motivation for doing it was to prevent passing on that entire family legacy as a burden to his children.
1) “Additionally, I’ve grown tired of shoulderling the responsibilities associated with managing this inheritance for almost four decades, dealing with all the problems and disagreements. Frankly, I yearn to be relieved of it.
When inquired about potential AI or hologram iterations of Pink Floyd in the future, David responded dismissively: ‘I won’t be around anymore. So, why should I care about what others might do?’
Gilmour will be performing his 21-date “Luck and Strange” tour at Rome’s Circo Massimo on both Wednesday and Thursday this week.
Last year, Pink Floyd released a 50th-anniversary collection for The Dark Side of the Moon, and to this day, they consistently draw in 18.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
In 1996, the iconic British rock band that last performed together during Live 8 London in 2005, was enshrined into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They then released their fifteenth (and ultimately final) studio album titled “The Endless River” in 2014.
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2024-10-03 08:18