Pink Floyd has sold the rights to their recorded music, name and likeness to Sony for $400 million. Somewhere, David Gilmour is apparently relieved.
Financial Times and Digital Music News confirmed the long-gestating deal. Expect Pink Floyd songs to begin appearing more often through licensing agreements in movies, TV shows, gaming and other media.
Pink Floyd was among the last big-name classic rock acts to sell, following other failed attempts to forge an agreement between long-feuding bandmates Gilmour and Roger Waters. One sticking point was reportedly the deal’s tax structure. Bidders were said to include Warner Music, Hipgnosis and BMG.
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In the meantime, Gilmour openly admitted that he wanted to sell. “To be rid of the decision-making and the arguments that are involved with keeping it going is my dream,” Gilmour said. “If things were different … and I am not interested in that from a financial standpoint. I’m only interested in it from getting out of the mud bath that it has been for quite a while.”
Nick Mason is the band’s only other living former core member, after the deaths of Syd Barrett and then Richard Wright. Mason has since launched an offshoot band called Saucerful of Secrets that focused on Pink Floyd’s early material.
Neither Pink Floyd nor Sony has officially confirmed the new deal. Gilmour also declined to comment to the Financial Times, but has recently waved off more questions about his fractured relationship with Waters. “Do you know what decade of my life I was in when Roger left our pop group?” he asked. “My 30s. I am now 78. Where’s the relevance?”
Sony might have paid more but this agreement reportedly includes only Pink Floyd’s recorded rights and not the songwriting rights. Sony has certainly shown an ability to up the ante, acquiring rights to the Queen catalog for more than $1 billion.
They got a boost in July when the private equity giant Apollo agreed to back Sony with up to $700 million for more music deals. Rights to the catalogs of Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan also belong to Sony.
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