Pink Floyd agree deal to sell music rights to Sony for $635 million

Pink Floyd pictured in 1971. Heritage artists are enjoying a renaissance with younger listeners through streaming services and as their tracks are used on TV shows. Photo / Getty Images

Pink Floyd, the British rock band, have agreed to sell the rights to their vast catalogue of music, including hits such as Wish You Were Here and Money, to music label Sony for about US$400m ($634.9m).

The deal includes Pink Floyd’s recorded music, according to two people familiar with the matter, resolving the fate of one of the most valuable assets during a boom time for sales of vintage rock music.

The terms also include the band name and the artists’ “likeness”, one person added, which means that the label will have the rights to merchandise and spin-offs such as movies and TV series.

Songs have two sets of copyrights – one for the songwriting and one for the recording, or master copy. Pink Floyd have agreed to sell their recorded rights, but not the songwriting, said people familiar with the matter.

The agreement, which was struck this week, will mark the end of years of infighting and drama between band members over the details of the sale.

The deal marks the latest in a series of acquisitions of “heritage” artists by Sony, which also struck a deal to acquire some of the rights to the British rock band Queen this year for about US$1 billion ($1.58b).

Pink Floyd are one of the best-selling groups of all time, with their hits including Another Brick in the Wall.

Their music had been one of the remaining big-name catalogues up for grabs after deals struck by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and others in recent years.

Rights to both Dylan and Springsteen were acquired by Sony, too.

But the group’s potential payout had been delayed for at least two years by disputes between band members over the tax structure of the deal, as well as bassist Roger Waters’ controversial comments.

An attempted sale in 2022 – which has attracted bidders such as Hipgnosis, Warner Music and BMG – was put on hold.

Waters and his bandmate David Gilmour have been at odds for more than four decades, which had previously jeopardised the band’s ability to cash out on their life’s work. The band’s other surviving member is drummer Nick Mason.

Sony and Gilmour declined to comment. Waters was not available for comment.

Heritage artists continue to be popular with new, younger audiences thanks to streaming services as well as use of their music in TV shows and films.

Sony, like other labels, seeks to add value to its music catalogues through licensing agreements across streaming services, gaming and other media.

While the prices of music catalogues have softened from the highs reached in 2021 and 2022, there is still strong demand from investors for highly coveted assets like Pink Floyd.

Private equity giant Apollo in July agreed to fund Sony with up to US$700m to back music deals.

Written by: Daniel Thomas in London and Anna Nicolaou in New York

© Financial Times