After years of stalled negotiations, the legendary British rock band Pink Floyd has agreed to sell their recorded-music rights and name-and-likeness rights to Sony Music for approximately $400 million, sources have confirmed.
The deal, one of the largest in recent music history, comes despite decades of internal conflict and public disputes among the band members, particularly between chief songwriters Roger Waters and David Gilmour.
Drummer Nick Mason and the estates of keyboardist Richard Wright and founding singer-songwriter Syd Barrett are also part of the agreement.
The deal includes rights to Pink Floyd’s recorded music but does not extend to songwriting rights, which remain with the individual members. It also covers name-and-likeness rights, including merchandising, theatrical, and other similar usages.
Although Pink Floyd was known for keeping their personalities relatively private, the agreement presumably includes much of the iconic artwork from their albums, mostly designed by the British design firm Hipgnosis.
On a business level, Pink Floyd’s catalog is among the most valuable in modern music, encompassing classic albums such as Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, Wish You Were Here, Animals, Meddle, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and More.
In recent years, Sony has spent over a billion dollars on acquiring catalogs from artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and Queen’s non-North American rights, often with the backing of investment firms like Eldridge Industries. Sony has never officially commented on these acquisitions.
Just two weeks ago, the Pink Floyd transaction was nearing completion. The catalog had been on the market for several years, with an initial asking price of $500 million.
The group nearly finalized a deal in 2022, but internal disputes—largely centered on Roger Waters’ controversial political statements regarding Israel, Ukraine, and Russia—complicated negotiations and scared off potential buyers.
Waters’ inflammatory remarks, which have alienated him from many, aside from his core fan base, reportedly devalued the catalog and even cost him his solo record deal.
The timing of the deal is striking, as it concludes amidst escalating violence in the Middle East.
This situation may spark criticism of Sony for paying such a substantial amount to Waters, who has denied being antisemitic but has been outspoken in his criticisms of the governments of Israel, Ukraine, and the United States, as well as in his support of Russia and Vladimir Putin
. Waters has controversially compared Israel to Nazi Germany and claimed that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “not unprovoked.” His 2022 concerts in Poland were canceled due to his comments about neighboring Ukraine.
In response to his statements, David Gilmour’s wife, novelist Polly Samson, publicly accused Waters of being “antisemitic to [his] rotten core,” a claim Gilmour backed, calling it “demonstrably true.” Waters has denied these accusations, calling them “incendiary and wildly inaccurate.”
Gilmour, in an interview, expressed his interest in selling the catalog not for financial reasons but to escape the ongoing decision-making and arguments involved in maintaining the band’s legacy, calling it “my dream.”
Potential buyers like Hipgnosis, Warner Music, and BMG were close to striking a deal in 2022, but Waters’ comments, coupled with leadership changes at these companies, rising interest rates, tax complications, and the declining value of the British pound, contributed to the collapse of those talks. Earlier this year, BMG even dropped Waters from its roster as a solo artist.
Mason, caught between the factions, commented in 2018, “It’s really disappointing these rather elderly gentlemen are still at loggerheads.”
