Queen Catalog Reportedly Close to $1.2B Sale
The Queen catalog is reportedly the next major sale in the ongoing trend of legendary artists selling their music and other intellectual property.
According to Billboard, the band is “finally getting close” to selling its diverse catalog for a reported sum of $1.2 billion. The outlet noted the sale may have already taken place, and the deal is “in an exclusive period with an undisclosed suitor.”
In addition to Queen’s music, other pieces of this remarkable deal also include “publishing and ancillary income streams,” which includes the revenue from the 2018 hit biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. This deal also may include “royalties from the North America master recordings catalog, which Queen sold to the Disney-owned Hollywood Records at some unknown point since the label began licensing the band’s recordings in the early 1990s.”
![British rock group Queen at Les Ambassadeurs, where they were presented with silver, gold and platinum discs for sales in excess of one million of their hit single 'Bohemian Rhapsody', which was No 1 for 9 weeks.](https://96krock.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/61/2024/05/Queen_group-shot_black-white.jpg?w=594)
Previous Reports of a Queen Catalog Sale
In May 2023, reports surfaced via CNN that Universal Music Group was in discussion to acquire the Queen catalog from Disney Music Group for over $1 billion. At the time, Disney Music Group denied the news of the sale and told CNN they have “no plans to sell the catalog.”
CNN noted, “That sum remains arguably the highest amount a music catalog has sold for, but if the Queen sale goes through, a new record will be set.”
So far, in 2024, there have been few major catalog sales in the rock world. In April, KISS sold its catalog, name, logo and makeup rights to Pophouse for a reported $300 million. Pophouse, a Swedish entertainment and music investment firm, already had a relationship with the band and is the creative force behind the creation of the KISS Avatars.
In February, Rod Steward sold his catalog to Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group for $100 million. In June 2023, Billboardreported Stewart was close to a catalog deal with Hipgnosis. Sale talks went on for two years, only for Stewart to back out.
The Big Business of the Queen Catalog
Since the release of the hit Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018, there has been a renewed interest in the Queen catalog. In fact, Billboard reported back in May 2019 the Queen catalog generated $18 million in revenue in the six months following the film’s release.
Streams of Queen’s music more than tripled during that time going from “588 million to 1.9 billion.” Track sales and downloads increased from “527,000 to 1.9 million units,” and album sales rose 483% from “184,000 to 1.1 million units.”