I don’t think this has been posted, sorry if wrong. New reissues of DSOTM incoming, and look forward to the Pink Floyd action figures.
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.
(…)
Pink Floyd has 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.
Several years ago, it was projected that the selling price would be .5 billion. The rancor between Waters and Gilmour is unlikely to ever resolve. Whatever impacted Rogers from his early years continues to dominate his world view. With enough net worth, even the most aberrant views are given an audience. Nonetheless, we should be grateful for some of the most memorable music of our times.
Just curious if anyone has any insight into the business model here. It seems a poor investment of $400M for music that is nearly sixty years old and has been re-released countless times. Is there really that much money in licensing?
Sony has been buying up the works by seminal artists left and right. They paid a rumored 150-200 mil for Dylan two years ago, and there were other deals, too.
I’m not privy to their business plan and I don’t know if they plan to recoup 400 mil for Pink Floyd in the short term, but it looks to me that they are positioning themselves to be the only game in town if you want access to the great pop music of the 20th century. And I guess this makes sense if you don’t think in decades but centuries. Somebody probably thought „if only we had bought the rights to Mozart and Beethoven in 1850“.
Will the children born in 2010, want to listen to music from 40-50 years earlier? Do Corvettes of 1953-1967 still bring those huge sums? Does popular music of today have enduring value…in 2040, will Eminem still have sales? Businesses speculate.
This is one part of it, but I am pretty sure that the greatest will be listened to for a very long time. Music that is like this will never be produced again.
I don’t blame them at all. The three remaining members are all around the age of 80, so why not leave a legacy for your family and enjoy the sunset years in as much comfort as possible.
It can arguably be better than having the rights in the hands of someone who has less chance to be around in the long-term than Sony is or who can’t ensure global availability. Though I’d prefer if copyright expiration actually happened the way it was supposed to.