Pink Floyd reportedly sold the rights to the band’s likeness and recordings to Sony Music for $400 million.
The deal came after numerous stops and starts amid decades of feuding between the band’s frontmen, David Gilmour and Roger Waters, according to Variety. The psychedelic prog-rock group’s catalog includes “Comfortably Numb,” “Another Brick in the Wall” and “Money.”
Pink Floyd’s deal with Sony is said not to include published songwriting properties that remain under the control of the band members who penned the songs. That includes the estate of co-founder Roger “Syd” Barrett, who wrote tunes including “Lucifer Sam” before leaving the band in 1968, just three years after Pink Floyd began.
Artwork associated with Pink Floyd’s often conceptual albums — including the rainbow passing through a triangular prism on 1973’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” — is part of the package acquired by Sony Music. The British creative firm Hipgnosis is credited with creating much of that imagery. They also did record covers for Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and Wings.
Sony nearly acquired Pink Floyd’s music in 2002 for somewhere around $500 million, according to Variety. Quarreling between bandmates, largely tied to Waters’ politics, reportedly complicated matters. Gilmour and other Waters’ critics have accused the 81-year-old musician of antisemitism. Waters’ refutes that characterization.
Sony Music shelled out what’s believed to be an unprecedented $1.6 billion for half of Michael Jackson’s music catalog in February, according to the New York Times. Forbes reported in June that the music giant had struck a $1 billion deal to acquire Queen’s music. Bruce Springsteen made the publication’s list of billionaires in July, thanks in part to Sony shelling out $500 million for his song catalog in 2021.
Eastman School of Music Professor John Covach told the Daily News in 2021 that there are a few reasons an artist might relinquish ownership of their music.
“If you’re a young artist in your twenties, you might think, ‘This is my retirement money, I have a revenue stream, I’m not going to sell my songs now,’” he said. “It’s different when you have more history behind you than future in front of you.”