Queen sells song catalogue to Sony for record-breaking £1 billion

Queen have reportedly reached an agreement with Sony Music to acquire the band’s music catalog.

Accordingly diversitySony has begun acquiring Queen’s legendary back catalogue, as well as merchandise and a selection of other business deals. The only portion of the revenue the band will keep will come from live performances.

According to the report, the deal was valued at $1.27 billion (£1 billion), making it the largest ever. For comparison, Bruce Springsteen sold his back catalogue to Sony for an estimated $500 million (£393 million) in 2021, while the label also secured Bob Dylan’s back catalogue in 2022.

The exact logistical aspects of the deal are also still unclear, as Disney currently owns the rights to the band in the U.S. and Canada due to a contract signed in the 1990s, while Universal Music Group will continue to act as Queen’s worldwide distributor until a long-standing contract expires in the next few years.

Queen’s Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon, as well as the estate of the late Freddie Mercury, are equal shareholders in Queen Productions Ltd, which generated a staggering turnover of $52 million (£40.8 million) in 2022.

Last year, the piano on which Freddie Mercury composed “Bohemian Rhapsody” was also sold for $2.2 million (£1.7 million) as part of the singer’s 1,500-piece estate auction.

The sale price of Mercury’s 1973 Yamaha grand piano surpassed the $2.1 million price of John Lennon’s Steinway, which he used to write “Imagine” and which was purchased by George Michael in 2000, according to the Wall Street Journal.

His collection, which Mercury once described as an “exquisite jumble,” included handwritten lyrics for Queen’s operatic anthem, which sold for $1.7 million. Remarkably, the 15 pages of lyrics – written on stationery from a defunct airline – reveal that the song was almost called “Mongolian Rhapsody” before the singer crossed it out and replaced it with the similarly syllabic “Bohemian.”