Money, it’s a gasGrab that cash with both hands and make a stashNew car, caviar, four-star daydreamThink I’ll buy me a football team

(Money, Pink Floyd)

 

It will soon be 60 years since pioneering psychedelic and progressive rock band Pink Floyd formed in London, and the surviving members are still counting the coin.

It has been revealed that Pink Floyd – which last released an album a deade ago – has sold the recorded rights to its music to Sony for US$400 million (A$581 million). 

Along with the recorded music comes ownership of merchandising, name, image and likeness.

What Sony doesn’t get is the hugely lucrative publishing rights to the songs, which include Money, Wish You Were Here, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Another Brick In The Wall and Comfortably Numb. 

That’s another Floyd payday on the way for surviving members and songwriters Roger Waters, Dave Gilmour and Nick Mason and the estates of former members Syd Barrett and Richard Wright, plus the odd songwriter who gained a co-writing credit along the way.

Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother was released in 2023 as a special 2-disc package in a 7-inch gatefold sleeve, containing the Atom Heart Mother album on CD and a Blu-ray disc, featuring footage of Atom Heart Mother (Suite) performed at Hakone Aphrodite Festival, Japan in August 1971. It also includes a behind the scenes mini documentary.

 

Pink Floyd has followed in the footsteps of the likes of Bruce Springsteen, KISS, Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow, Paul Simon, Stevie Nicks, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and the late David Bowie in selling off recorded rights and/or publishing rights.

For some more mature artists the idea of consolidating their assets would be tempting, as it means heirs to estates won’t have to spend their lives dealing with record labels and publishers. However it would also be a wrench, given how some songwriters feel about their musical babies.

“The deal struck this week marks the end of years of infighting among band members over the sale,” reported the Financial Times.

“But the group’s potential payout had been delayed for at least two years by disputes between band members over the tax structure of the deal, as well as bassist Roger Waters’ controversial comments.”

Waters has been accused of making antisemitic comments during his career, however he denied the claims, saying, “I have spent my entire life speaking out against authoritarianism and oppression wherever I see it.”

It’s believed Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour haven’t exchanged Christmas cards in some time.