British rock band Pink Floyd is exploring a sale of its recorded music catalog, which includes some of the best-selling albums in history.
Representatives for the band have reached out to potential buyers, according to three people familiar with the matter who asked to not be identified because the discussions are private. The process began in the last few days, and it’s too early to know what the outcome will be, they said. Representatives of the band didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Pink Floyd is looking to capitalize on what has been a frothy market for music rights and score a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Just last year, Bob Dylan sold his recordings to Sony Music in a deal estimated to be worth more than $150 million. Deals for songwriting catalogs have eclipsed $300 million.
While the market for some music rights has begun to soften, that shouldn’t hurt a band like Pink Floyd. The group has sold 75 million records in the U.S. alone, the 10th most of any artist, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. That’s about twice as many as Dylan.
The band formed in 1965 under the direction of then lead singer Syd Barrett, who left three years later. The group continued, producing a string of popular albums and tours in the 1970s. Their 1973 release, “The Dark Side of the Moon,” is one of the top-selling records in history.
Singer and bassist Roger Waters left the band in 1985 and later sued his fellow band mates over their use of the name.
Waters and the rest of the crew have squabbled over the years as the band, led by guitarist David Gilmour, continued to release records. Keyboardist Richard Wright died in 2008. Both Waters and drummer Nick Mason are touring this year as solo artists.
The last Pink Floyd album, “The Endless River,” came out in 2014. Gilmour and Mason released a song last month under the Pink Floyd name to support Ukraine following the Russian invasion.
–With assistance from Christopher Palmeri.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.
