A billion dollars. That seems to be the value of Queen’s music catalogue. According to rumors in British newspapers, especially the trade magazine Music Business Worldwide, it could be one of the largest copyright transfers, worth exactly $1.1 billion. The package would include the entire catalog and ownership of the recordings in their repertoire.
negotiation
If this were indeed the agreed amount, the deal would reflect the value of Sony Music Group’s acquisition in 2021 of the rights to Bruce Springsteen’s published and recorded music or the Bob Dylan catalog from Universal Music Group to Sony for $450 million more than double. Record companies interested in Queen’s massive haul include Universal Music Group, the company the band itself was signed to, but also private equity funds specializing in the sector. The operation was completed by the end of the summer, but not without complications.
The property
In fact, current ownership is split between three parties: for Queen’s music recorded in the United States and Canada, the rights are owned by Disney Music Group (Dmg), which has an agreement with Universal for worldwide distribution; the masters (ie original recordings of a recorded work) are from Queen Productions, a company equally owned by band members Roger Taylor, Brian May, John Deacon and the Freddie Mercury Legacy; after all, they own the worldwide publishing rights through Queen Music, managed by Sony Music Publishing.
The merit
It’s evident that Queen’s music is not only worth spending over a billion dollars, but continues to make it. Annual accounts, regularly released by Queen Productions, show that for the financial year 2021 (which runs to September) the company reported sales of £39.19million, of which £38.92million came from royalties, the remuneration paid to the owner or writer were awarded a work. After the release of the film “Bohemian Rhapsody”, dedicated to the story of Freddy Mercury and the band, the revenue even reached 72.77 million pounds. On Spotify, the music platform with almost 500 million users worldwide, Queen are the 48th most listened to artist worldwide with around 47.7 million listeners per month.