Pink Floyd is apparently in ‘advanced talks’ to sell their catalog to Sony Music for approximately $500 million.
The potential sale of Pink Floyd’s catalog has been a hot issue for the past few years, but it appears increasingly improbable that a transaction would materialize. The Financial Times now alleges that Sony Music is in “advanced talks” to buy the band’s music for $400 million to $500 million.
Specifics of the arrangement have been kept under wraps, with neither the group nor Sony responding to media demands for comment. However, if the price is as high as reported, it seems that Waters’ statements had no impact. A lower price tag would indicate that he has effectively devalued the catalog.
The group appeared to be close to reaching an agreement in 2022, but the ongoing feud among the band’s members, particularly over Roger Waters’ inflammatory political views about Israel and Ukraine, appeared to complicate the sale and frighten away any potential buyers.
Waters’ former bandmate David Gilmour concurred with his wife Polly Samson’s judgment on Twitter in February that Waters was “anti-Semitic to [his] rotten core.” Waters quickly refuted the claims, calling them “incendiary and wildly inaccurate.”
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Regardless, the conflicts amongst Pink Floyd’s members may make a sale of their catalog beneficial to the band. Earlier this month, Gilmour told Rolling Stone that he would be delighted to achieve an agreement on the sale of the catalog, which would allow him to finally get “out of the mud bath” — apparently referring to Waters’ controversial beliefs.
“To be rid of the decision-making and the arguments that are involved with keeping it going is my dream,” according to Gilmour.
Sony has never publicly verified its recent catalog purchases, which include rights to Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Queen’s name and likeness outside of North America. However, all of these transactions have been extensively reported and/or shown subsequently in the company’s earnings reports. Still, if the deal is announced to have closed, Sony may face significant criticism for paying such a large price to Waters.
Hipgnosis, BMG, and Warner Music are among the other businesses that expressed interest in the catalog and were close to reaching an agreement in 2022. However, each of these firms has had leadership changes since then, and BMG even dismissed Waters as a solo artist from their roster due to some of his political views.
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