Deacon - who has not taken part in any public work for the group since the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992, will not include his share of the assets in a potential catalogue deal.
Classic Rock 96.1 claims the $1.27 billion US marks the largest music rights sale on record, surpassing Bruce Springsteen's previous $500 million deal in 2021, also to Sony Music, as well as a deal reached earlier this year in which Sony agreed to pay $600 million for half of Michael Jackson's publishing and recorded masters catalog.
Sir Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon and the estate of Freddie Mercury are all equal shareholders in Queen Productions Ltd.
News of Sony’s reported talks to acquire Queen’s catalog arrived a year after Music Business Worldwide broke the news (in May 2023) that discussions were happening between Queen’s representatives and certain companies over a potential $1 billion-plus catalog sale.
The band’s publishing rights are owned by another entity, Queen Music Ltd., and are administered by Sony Music Publishing. Queen Music’s financial statements suggest its income is being paid through to Queen Productions.
Queen have been recognised with a Brit Billion Award for achieving the milestone of being streamed more than one billion times in the UK.
The British rock band, which consisted of lead singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Sir Brian May, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor, have been presented with the prize by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the record industry’s trade association, following analysis by the Official Charts Company, Belfasttelegraph reports.
Nearly half a decade down the road from that movie’s release, one would think the band’s earnings would be dropping back down again. Not so.
Veteran rocker May, who was a founding member of the rock band, said: “Thank you for presenting Queen with a Brit Billion Award. We’re grateful to all our fans that support us and continue to enjoy our music. Rock on BPI.”
Fellow band member Taylor added: “I’m thrilled to accept the Brit Billion Award on behalf of Queen, celebrating being streamed over a billion times in the UK, which is incredible.
“I would like to say thanks to everyone who has extracted a morsel of enjoyment from our music.
“We are still around and we hope to entertain you a little. Thank you.”
The latest annual report from Queen Productions Ltd. – the UK-based company that collects the band’s turnover – shows that in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, the band took in £40.89 million (USD $50.41m at average annual exchange rates as per the IRS).
That’s an increase of 4.3% from FY 2021, when turnover came in at £39.19 million. (In US dollar terms, that comes to $53.9 million, as the British pound was stronger against the dollar that year.)
