The iconic British band, Pink Floyd, closed a lucrative deal with Sony Music for the sale of their music catalog and the rights to their name and image for a value close to 400 million dollars, as reported by Variety in the last hours.
According to the information disclosed by the mentioned medium, the agreement includes the rights to all the music recorded by Pink Floyd throughout their career, as well as the use of their name and image, however, the copyright of the individual compositions will remain the property of the band members.
In addition, the agreement could include the iconic covers of their albums, many of which were created by the design firm Hipgnosis, which were crucial to Pink Floyd's visual identity.
The negotiations for the Pink Floyd catalog began several years ago, with an initial price of 500 million dollars. Although the group was close to reaching an agreement in 2022, internal tensions and controversial public statements by Roger Waters on issues such as Ukraine and Israel halted the process.
Record labels such as Warner Music and BMG had also shown interest, but the internal differences within the band and Waters' controversies complicated the negotiations.
Catalog included in the negotiation
Among the most outstanding albums in the band's catalog are cult classics such as "The Dark Side of the Moon," "Wish You Were Here," "The Wall," and "Animals."
Sony Music continues to expand its dominance in the industry with this acquisition, having already invested over 1 billion dollars in catalogs of other major artists such as Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. The deal for the Pink Floyd catalog marks another milestone in the growing trend of major record labels purchasing music rights.