Pink Floyd sold the rights to their music, name, and image to Sony for $400 million.
Financial Times and Digital Music News confirmed the deal after a long wait. Through licensing deals, you can expect Pink Floyd songs to show up more in movies, TV shows, games, and other media.
It came after several failed attempts to reach a deal between bandmates David Gilmour and Roger Waters, who often disagreed. One of the problems was the deal’s tax structure. Warner Music, Hipgnosis, and BMG were among the bidders.
Gilmour previously admitted he was ready to sell. He said, “To be rid of the decision-making and the arguments that are involved with keeping it going is my dream. 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.”
The ‘mud bath’ likely refers to Gilmour’s long-running issues with Waters. In 2023, Gilmour called Waters a ‘misogynistic, antisemitic, Putin supporter.’ Pink Floyd tried to sell their catalog in 2022, but talks failed due to fights between band members and Waters’ controversial comments.
This made buyers unsure. The Financial Times reported in 2022 that the catalog could be worth about $500 million if a deal happens. Some possible buyers backed out after a 2022 interview where Waters made controversial comments about Israel, Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S.
Waters said Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine was ‘not unprovoked.’ Russia even invited him to speak at the UN in early 2023, where he repeated this statement.
In March 2023, four sources told Variety that the band’s $500 million sale was ‘basically dead’ because of disagreements between the members. But others close to the band denied this.
Later that year, Waters was investigated by Berlin police for wearing a Nazi-like uniform at a concert. He also won a legal case that let him perform in Frankfurt, Germany, after the city tried to cancel the show, accusing him of antisemitism.
The city called Waters ‘one of the most well-known antisemites’ and objected to his concert partly because, in a past tour, a balloon shaped like a pig had the Star of David and company logos as part of the stage show. Waters has always denied being antisemitic.