Of all the remaining multimillion-dollar music-catalog deals on the table, the rights to Pink Floydās recordings and name/likeness has been the most contentious. The catalog has been in play for several years with a reported asking price of $500 million, and the group was close to a deal in 2022, but the bitter infighting between the bandās members ā primarily over main songwriter Roger Watersā controversial political statements against Israel and Ukraine, and in favor of Russia ā have complicated the deal enormously and scared off a number of suitors.
However, reports and Variety sources say that Sony Music, which has spent more than a billion dollars on catalogs from Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Queenās non-North American rights in the past few years (with backing from investment firms like Eldridge Industries), is in āadvancedā talks to acquire the groupās recorded-music rights for a price between $400 million and $500 million.
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While specifics on the deal are unclear ā and reps for the group and Sony declined or did not respond to Varietyās requests for comment ā if the price is on the high end, as reported by Financial Times, that means Watersā comments have had little impact on the price tag; if the low end, as reported by Music Business Worldwide, it means he has devalued the catalog by as much as 20%.
Other potential suitors were said to be underwhelmed with the catalogās annual earnings.
Key bandmembers Waters and David Gilmour (pictured above right and left, respectively, in the early 1970s), have been feuding for decades, taking public potshots at each other while recently trying to find enough common ground to close a deal.
Sony has never officially confirmed its catalog deals, although the ones listed above have been either widely reported by informed sources or been listed later on earnings reports. However, if news emerges that the deal has closed, the company is likely to face a firestorm of criticism for paying such a hefty sum to Waters, who has vehemently denied that he is antisemitic but has been quite unambiguous about his fierce criticism of the governments of Israel, Ukraine and the United States, and his strong statements in support of Russia and Vladimir Putin.
Among many other incendiary statements, Waters has compared Israel to Nazi Germany and said Russiaās invasion of Ukraine was ānot unprovoked.ā (Watersā 2022 concerts in Poland were canceled over his comments about neighboring Ukraine.) āYou are anti-Semitic to your rotten core,ā Gilmourās wife, novelist Polly Samson, told Waters on Twitter, amid other colorful comments; āEvery word demonstrably true,ā Gilmour added. Waters refuted their comments as āincendiary and wildly inaccurate.ā