Like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Frampton, Kiss, and many others, Pink Floyd also sold their music rights and likeness. The deal was made with Sony and according to Financial Times, the record company paid them 400 million dollars. The deal includes only Pink Floyd’s recorded rights and not the songwriting rights. Recently Sony acquired the rights to the Queen catalog for more than 1 billion dollars.
The guitarist and singer David Gilmour recently told Rolling Stone they were trying to make the deal happen. “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 band was reactivated a few years ago to record a single called “Hey, Hey Rise Up”, which was a protest against Russia’s invasion in Ukraine. Meanwhile, David Gilmour released a new album called “Luck and Strange” and is currently touring. The drummer Nick Mason is also touring with his band, A Saucerful Of Secrets, which focuses on the early Pink Floyd material. Roger Waters doesn’t have any scheduled tour dates so far.
They are the only surviving members of the band since the original guitarist and singer Syd Barrett passed away back in 2006 at the age of 60 and the keyboardist Richard Wright died at the age of 65 back in 2008.
Formed in London, England back in 1965, Pink Floyd is not only the most successful Progressive Rock band of all time but one of the best-selling groups in the history of music. They have sold an estimated amount of more than 250 million records worldwide.