{"id":70396,"date":"2024-02-06T15:05:59","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T20:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2024\/02\/06\/queen-is-finally-close-to-selling-its-catalog\/"},"modified":"2024-02-06T15:05:59","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T20:05:59","slug":"queen-is-finally-close-to-selling-its-catalog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2024\/02\/06\/queen-is-finally-close-to-selling-its-catalog\/","title":{"rendered":"Queen Is Finally Close to Selling Its\u00a0Catalog"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tQueen<\/a> is finally getting close to selling its catalog, according to sources\u00a0\u2014 and may even already be in an exclusive period with an undisclosed suitor.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe music assets include recorded music, publishing and ancillary income streams, according to sources, who suggest Queen is seeking a $1.2 billion payday. Those ancillary revenue streams include revenue from the 2018 smash film Bohemian Rhapsody<\/em>, merchandise and other licensing opportunities. The deal may also 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\u2019s recordings in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the past, Hollywood has maintained that when it acquired Queen\u2019s master recordings it was for life of copyright, which could mean the label has the band\u2019s later albums in the U.S. for a total of 35 years, given that U.S. copyright law allows creators to terminate and reclaim their copyright after that term.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Katy<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tMusic Catalog Values Rose Slightly in 2023 \u2014 But a Leveling Out Is\u00a0Coming\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tThere have been numerous media reports about Queen seeking a record $1 billion catalog sale since the band started shopping it in May 2023 \u2014 the first of which by Music Business Worldwide<\/a><\/em>. While many of those stories suggested that Queen was in discussions with Universal Music Group and that Disney, Hollywood\u2019s owner, was also approached, sources say that the band\u2019s music assets were shopped to only a few select suitors because the band members wanted to be comfortable in entrusting stewardship of its catalog. Moreover, because of the price the band is seeking, sources suggest that some of the potential strategic buyers may have partnered with financial institutions to make an offer.<\/p>\n

\n\tSources say that each band member\u00a0\u2014 Brian May<\/strong>, Roger Taylor<\/strong>, John Deacon<\/strong> and the estate of the late Freddie Mercury<\/strong> \u2014\u00a0has his own lawyer involved to collectively shop the deal. Billboard<\/em> reached out to lawyers who are or were officers for the band\u2019s company, Queen Productions Ltd., as well as Hollywood Records and UMG, all of whom either declined a request for comment or didn\u2019t respond.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Queen catalog includes iconic hit songs such as \u201cBohemian Rhapsody,\u201d \u201cKiller Queen,\u201d \u201cAnother One Bites the Dust,\u201d \u201cRadio Ga Ga,\u201d \u201cSomebody to Love,\u201d \u201cCrazy Little Thing Called Love,\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re My Best Friend, \u201cWe Will Rock You\u201d and \u201cWe Are the Champions.\u201d Since 1991, the Queen catalog has generated nearly 38 million album consumption units in the U.S.; and has nearly 41.7 billion in global on-demand streams, according to Luminate.<\/p>\n

\n\tSince late 2018,\u00a0Queen\u2019s sales and streaming activity has been turbocharged by the Bohemian Rhapsody<\/em> theatrical film that came out that year.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor perspective, from 1991 to the end of 2017, Queen\u2019s U.S. sales and streaming activity totaled 25.9 million album consumption units, according to Luminate. And in the three years leading up to the Bohemian Rhapsody<\/em> film\u2019s release, Queen\u2019s annual catalog album consumption averaged about 752,000 units. But then in 2018, with the film\u2019s release that November, the band\u2019s album consumption unit count jumped to 2.074 million. In 2019, its catalog activity exploded to nearly 3.58 million units.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tIf 10% of Led Zeppelin\u2019s Catalog Is Up for Sale, What\u2019s It\u00a0Worth?\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tAt the end of 2023, Queen\u2019s U.S. album consumption sales activity to date since 1991 totals nearly 37.7 million units, an increase of 45.5% from the 25.9 million in 2017.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to financial reports from Queen\u2019s shared company, Queen Productions Limited, filed with the United Kingdom\u2019s Companies House agency, the band reported a net profit of 18 million pounds on nearly 41 million pounds in revenue for the year ended Sept. 30, 2022. The company also reported 32.4 million pounds in gross profit and 22.16 million pounds after expenses but before taxes. For the prior fiscal year, the company reported 13.6 million pounds in net profit on revenues of 39.2 million pounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMusic assets usually trade based on financial models built around an average of the catalog\u2019s performance for the most recent three years. They trade on what\u2019s known as net label share \u2014 gross profit after cost of goods but before marketing costs. Or, in the case of publishing,\u00a0net publishers share\u00a0\u2014\u00a0gross profit after paying out royalties.<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, the Bohemian Rhapsody<\/em> film produced incredible financial rewards, throwing off the kinds of averages commonly used to price these deals. When investors look at music catalogs, they try to eliminate what they consider one-time activity bonanzas like a new boxset coming out; or in the case of Queen, setting aside the sales and streaming activity in the immediate aftermath of the film.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBy the time the Queen music assets came to market in May 2023, interested suitors were likely scrutinizing the catalog\u2019s activity from 2020 to 2022, when the band\u2019s music averaged nearly 1.53 million album consumption units a year. That\u2019s more than double the 752,000 album consumption units that the band averaged in the three years before to the film\u2019s release.\u00a0After discounting 2018 and 2019 as an anomaly, Queen\u2019s camp, however, is likely arguing that the movie has brought Queen to a bigger audience and that success will be sustained. But suitors considering the Queen acquisition nevertheless might be worried that some of that activity\u00a0might still be from the film\u2019s afterglow. And if so, how much decay might still occur before sales and streaming activity level off and become predictable?\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"KOBALT\"<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tMorgan Stanley Invests Over $700 Million to Buy Catalogs With\u00a0Kobalt\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tOverall, in 2019 \u2014 the year the band\u2019s financials were most impacted by the film \u2014 Queen reported 72.8 million pounds in revenue and, after cost of sales, a gross profit of 58.8 million pounds. In the three years prior to the movie being released, from 2016 through 2018, the\u00a0Queen\u00a0catalog averaged 17.6 million pounds \u2014 due to an atypically low 2016 when revenue was only 12.34 million pounds \u2014 while gross profit averaged 13.5 million pounds. From 2020 through 2022, the catalog averaged revenues of 40.7 million pounds, and gross profits of 22.2 million pounds.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s likely that the Queen financials don\u2019t include all Queen revenue, as well. For example, while it may include music publishing royalties paid to the band\u2019s publishing company, it likely doesn\u2019t include the individual payouts from global collection societies that are paid directly to writers. With that under consideration, Billboard<\/em> estimates Queen\u2019s publishing revenue likely totals about $17 million annually, based on the 2020\u20132022 three years average.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor masters, Billboard<\/em> estimates\u00a0\u2014 also based on a three-year average \u2014 annual global revenue of about $48 million for the Queen catalog. Of that, about $16 million is from North America \u2014 where sources say the band receives artist royalties. For the remaining $32 million outside North America, Queen owns its catalog. Figuring Queen takes a quarter of the revenue from North America, and three-quarters elsewhere, the band would earn roughly $28 million annually off recorded music.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn all, that\u2019s about $45 million that Queen earns from recorded and publishing annually, based on estimates.<\/p>\n

\n\tSources say Queen\u2019s annual royalties in the deal total about $50 million, which likely also includes royalties from Bohemian Rhapsody<\/em> DVD and Blu-Ray sales,\u00a0band\u00a0merchandise and Queen theatrical productions in the U.K.<\/p>\n

\n\tValuing Queen\u2019s publishing catalog at a 25-times multiple would come to about $420 million. The masters and other income streams at a 20 times multiple would bring that valuation to $660 million. And then, adding in other tertiary income streams and then likeness and image rights could get it to $1 billion valuation.<\/p>\n

\n\tQueen is seeking more than that, though. And the steep $1.2 billion price tag sources suggest\u00a0could be one of the reasons why the catalog has been in play for so long. Now, though, it seems a deal may finally be close.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Aller \u00e0 la source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Queen is finally getting close to selling its catalog, according to sources\u00a0\u2014 and may even already be in an exclusive period with an undisclosed suitor. The music assets include recorded music, publishing and ancillary income streams, according to sources, who suggest Queen is seeking a $1.2 billion payday. Those ancillary revenue streams include revenue from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musique","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}