Pink Floyd in Talks with Sony Over Pink Floyd Back Catalogue Sale
According to the Financial Times, Sony Music is in advanced negotiations to acquire the rights to Pink Floyd’s music for approximately £380/$500 million. This deal is one of the most anticipated in the music industry. The FT says, “the band is now progressing with talks with Sony Music, according to two people familiar with the situation.“. However, personal differences between band members, particularly Roger Waters and David Gilmour, have complicated reaching an agreement over the Pink Floyd Back Catalogue.

Pink Floyd Back Catalogue is Sought After
The sale of Pink Floyd’s lucrative catalogue has been considered for many years, attracting bidders like Hipgnosis, Warner Music, and BMG in 2022. Currently, the band is progressing with talks with Sony Music, according to sources familiar with the situation. The back catalogue includes some of the best-selling hits of the past 50 years, such as “Money,” “Wish You Were Here,” and “Another Brick in the Wall.”
Despite the ongoing discussions, there is no guarantee of an agreement due to past issues. The potential deal highlights the continued interest in acquiring music rights of well-known artists, whose hits remain popular among new generations through streaming services and their use in TV and films. However, the industry has faced challenges in recent years as higher interest rates have reduced returns and made other investments more attractive.
David Gilmour’s “Dream” to Sell Back Catalogue

David Gilmour recently did an interview with Rolling Stone magazine where he discussed the sale of Pink Floyd’s back catalogue and his thoughts and feelings about it.
There have been a lot of reports about the Pink Floyd catalogue being sold. Is that still a possibility?
“Is it something that is still in discussion, yeah.”
Do you want to do it?
“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.”
I’m sure it’s challenging to get three “yes” votes for anything at this point.
“Well, that’s not actually the way it’s worked. It works on a veto system. You could say it’s three people saying yes, but one person saying no.”
New Pink Floyd Releases in Future?
Given the amount of excellent Pink Floyd box sets, treasure troves filled with superfan grade materials, there can’t be much left in the vaults to share can there?
A band like Pink Floyd probably doesn’t spend much on advertising for the back catalogue so perhaps there are a huge number of new fans who have never heard of the band about to discover them for the first time which therefore makes the back catalogue valuable just by releasing the studio albums. Their albums are a probably a cash cow (Lulubelle lol) attracting a steady flow of revenue.
However, for older and more established fans, hopefully there will be materials sold as part of the catalogue that didn’t find their way out in some form that haven’t already been included in the massive tranche of boxsets Pink Floyd has released over the years.

Private Equity funding Song Acquisitions
In July, private equity group Apollo invested $700 million to help Sony fund music acquisitions. Sony Music is also in talks to buy the music rights of Queen for about $1 billion and has previously acquired Bruce Springsteen’s catalogue with backing from Eldridge Industries, Todd Boehly’s investment vehicle.

A label like Sony has the resources and network to promote and use the music across TV, films, and streaming services, increasing the income and value of the music over time. Bob Dylan and Neil Young are among the many artists and bands that have struck large deals for their music in recent years.
According to the Financial Times, representatives for David Gilmour declined to comment, and those for Roger Waters did not respond to requests for comment. Sony also declined to comment. So a big fat no comment then!
Sources – Proactive Investor, Rolling Stone, Paywalled > FT, Daily Telegraph