In 1970, Brian May and Roger Taylor formed Queen by bringing in Freddie Mercury and John Deacon. The Mercury-fronted version of the band produced iconic hits like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Are The Champions,” “Another One Bites The Dust,” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” throughout the 1970s and ’80s before Mercury’s death due to AIDS-related bronchial pneumonia in November 1991. Three decades later, Sony Music is reportedly acquiring Queen’s catalog for £1 billion (approximately $1.27 million), as first reported by Hits.
Is Queen’s Catalog Sale For $1.2 Billion The Biggest Deal Of Its Kind Ever?
Consequence relayed, “The deal is believed to be the biggest such acquisition of its kind,” so apparently, yes.
According to Variety, Sony Music’s purported deal will include Queen’s publishing and recording rights, and “the only revenue not covered in the deal is for live performances, which founding members Brian May and Roger Taylor, who still actively tour with singer Adam Lambert, will retain.”
Variety added, “The catalog, which has been in play for several years and inching toward Sony for the past few months, is complicated by the group’s recorded-music rights for the U.S. and Canada, which were acquired by Disney, for an undisclosed price, at some point in the 2000s after an initial $10 million licensing deal that was struck in 1991. Those rights will remain with Disney in perpetuity, although certain of the bandmembers’ remaining royalties from them will go to Sony once the deal closes. Similarly, the group’s distribution deal, which is currently with Universal, will go to Sony in all territories outside the U.S. and Canada when it expires in 2026 or 2027.”
