Bloomberg reports Pink Floyd might be considering selling its recorded music catalog.
In a story published yesterday, Bloomberg cites three unnamed sources as saying over the past week representatives for the band have been courting potential buyers.
Any transaction could involve enormous amounts of money. Floyd has sold 75 million records in the United States alone, according to the report.
It’s not clear whether any deal would be limited to the recorded output of the band; or if it might include songwriting rights.
The music industry has seen a trend of high-profile artists selling their song rights.
At the end of 2020, Bob Dylan sold his songwriting catalog to Universal Music Publishing Group for $400 million. That came on the heals of Stevie Nicks selling the majority of her songwriting to Primary Wave for approximately $100 million.
Other artists conducting similar transactions include Barry Manilow; the estates of Bob Marley, Whitney Houston and Ray Charles; Richie Sambora; 50 Cent; Nelly; Imagine Dragons; the founders of Blondie; and others.
Industry pundits speculate the loss of tour revenue during the pandemic shutdown has fueled some of these transactions. Though for artists the age of Floyd, the press of approaching mortality might be a larger factor.
As Rolling Stone wrote in January 2021: “Dylan is nearly 80 years old, has had six children, and will surely be thinking about his estate planning. A lump of $400 million is far easier to divvy up than a lifetime’s patchwork of publishing copyrights.”
That article also cited changing U.S. tax laws as providing a strong incentive. Though it’s not clear how U.S. laws might affect members of Floyd, at least one of which, Roger Waters, seems to call the U.S. his permanent residence.
Representatives for Pink Floyd declined comment for the Bloomberg story.
