Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Phil Collins, the heirs of David Bowie and many others had already done it, but this time it could be a record: negotiations would have begun for the sale of copyrights and masters of the entire corpus of Queen and there is talk of the staggering figure of 1.1 billion dollars.
It would be the richest music catalog ever transfer. This was reported by CNN and Music Business Worldwide, an online magazine specialized in economic and financial information applied to music.
According to the reconstruction of the newspapers, among thepotential buyers there would be Universal Music (a company with which the band itself had a contract), as well as some investment funds.
The negotiation, which could be concluded by the end of the summer, would not be simple: just think that in North America, for example, the masters (ie the original recordings of a recording work) are in the hands of Disney Music Group (DMG) which has a global distribution agreement with Universal Music Group. If successful, the sale would double the figures paid by Sony Music for Bruce Springsteen and by Sony Music and Universal Music for Bob Dylan.
Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon, along with the Freddie Mercury Estate, own equal shares in Queen Productions Ltd, which owns the group's masters outside the United States and Canada. While the publishing rights belong to Queen Music Ltd, another company owned by May, Taylor and Deacon along with the Freddie Mercury Estate, but managed by Sony Music Publishing.
The figure of 1.1 billion dollars, we said, is mind-boggling, but the music of Queen has never ceased to be a source of income: from the annual financial statements from Queen Productions, it emerges that in the fiscal year 2021 the company recorded revenues of 39.19 million pounds, of which 38.92 coming from royalties, the compensation paid to the owner or author of a work.