Queen has officially sold their music catalog along with a number of other rights to Sony Music for $1.2 billion. Hits was the first on the news. The only thing that Queen is keeping the rights to is live performances, which founding members Brian May and Roger Taylor will retain.
The bidding was hot and according to their sources, at least one other player was in the bidding but stopped short at $900 million. The thing that complicates the deal is a deal they made with Disney in the ’90s. That deal was a $10 million transaction that will remain with Disney in perpetuity, but certain bandmembers’ remaining royalties will go to Sony once the deal closes. The group’s distribution deal, which is currently with Universal, will go to Sony in all territories besides the US and Canada when it expires.
Sony has recently acquired Bruce Springsteen’s catalog and Bob Dylan’s recorded-music rights. Queen is one of the most valuable catalogs in music history with tracks like “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Another One Bites The Dust”, “Somebody To Love”, “We Will Rock You”, and “We Are The Champions.” Their songs are globally popular and enormously valuable. The 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody only strengthened the idea that Queen is one of the most marketable bands in history.
Queen were formed in 1970 in London by Brian May and Roger Taylor. They were joined by Freddie Mercury on vocals and John Deacon on bass guitar for their most popular run. Buoyed by the success of “Bohemian Rhapsody” the band reached superstar territory in 1975 and never looked back. They’ve had multiple No. 1 singles over the years and at one point held the all-time attendance record for a single concert in 1985 with their Rock In Rio performance. Freddie Mercury passed away from complications from AIDS in 1991. They’ve had Paul Rodgers of Bad Company and Adam Lambert as singers since then.
This deal is surely one of the biggest in the history of music, and it only shows that Queen are one of the biggest rock bands ever.
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Source: Hits
