The deal is estimated to be worth $400 million
Pink Floyd has reportedly sold its catalog and name/likeness to its longtime label, Sony Music Entertainment, for approximately $400 million. Digital Music News and the Financial Times report the news of the long-awaited sale through parties with knowledge of the matter. Neither the band nor the label have publicly commented on the matter as of press time.
The deal has been in the works for several years but was rumored to be thwarted by Roger Waters’ comments about world politics, including dispairing comments about the United States.
Pink Floyd has long been associated with politics. Its tenth studio album, Animals, is a concept album, focusing on the social-political conditions of mid-1970s Britain, and was a change from the style of the band’s earlier work. The album was developed from a collection of unrelated songs into a concept that describes the apparent social and moral decay of society, likening the human condition to that of animals. Taking inspiration from George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the album depicts the different classes of people as animals with pigs being at the top of the social chain, dropping down to the sheep as the mindless herd following what they are told, with dogs as the business bosses getting fat on the money and power they hold over the other. Although it’s been a long time since 1977, the narrative of the album still resonates today as our social and economic situation mirrors that of the time. Earlier this year, Animals 2018 Remix received a Dolby Atmos release on Blu-ray and digital formats.
The news follows Sony’s acquisition that it purchased Queen’s recorded catalog for more than $1 billion earlier this summer, marking the biggest music acquisition in history. Sony previously purchased the rights to the recorded catalogs and publishing of Bruce Springsteen for $500 million in 2021 and Bob Dylan for $400 million in 2020. The company has yet to confirm any of its acquisiton deals publicly.
