Yahoo Finance Queen Sell Music Back Catalog for Record $1 Billion: Reports
Sony Music is reportedly buying the British band's catalog
Fin Costello/Redferns
Freddie MercuryQueen's music might finally have a home.
Sony Music is reportedly acquiring the legendary band's music catalog for a cool £1 billion, which equates to $1.27 billion, according to HITS Daily Double.
Sony Music Publishing will reportedly supervise the monetary, copyright and contractual parts of the deal, which is said to have a long term. That said, the composition of this deal is complicated due to each founding member's own contributions, such as each penning at least one chart-topping single.
The deal comes months after Sony paid $600 million for a 50% stake in Michael Jackson's catalog, which was already a massive payout for the company.
PEOPLE reached out to Sony Music Publishing for comment and did not receive an immediate response.
Related: Brian May Reveals Why He 'Never Liked' Queen and David Bowie's 'Under Pressure' Collaboration
Variety reports that another party interested in the music deal "stopped short at $900 million," though it's not known which company was in the running.
According to Billboard, secondary revenue streams for this deal would include money made from the 2018 Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
If a jukebox musical were made with the Queen catalog, the deal would include that as well, as per Variety.
This deal may also include some revenue from the North America master recordings catalog, which Disney owns since 1990 with a $10 million deal, as per HITS.
Meanwhile, Universal Music Group's licensing deal income from the British rock band will go to Sony when it expires by 2027.
The only money that won't be part of the massive deal is revenue made from live performances. Surviving Queen band members Brian May and Roger Taylor perform and tour with singer Adam Lambert.
Queen formed in 1970 and included the late Freddie Mercury and retired band member John Deacon, 72 along with May, 76, and Taylor, 74.
Deacon, May and Taylor already collect eight-figure payouts from Queen Productions Ltd, as per The Times UK. Meanwhile, the holding company earned £73 million the year Bohemian Rhapsody came out.
Queen's catalog includes hits like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” "Somebody to Love," "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions."
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