published an article on Wednesday (May 29) citing sources as saying that the news (in May 2023) that discussions were happening between Queen’s representatives and certain companies over a potential $1 billion-plus catalog sale.
That catalog, we reported, combined both publishing and recorded music rights, all jointly and equally owned by the band’s surviving ‘classic’ line-up (Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon) plus the estate of Freddie Mercury.
Sources told us at the time that major music companies including noted in our report last year that any potential deal would be complicated by the fact that Queen Productions Ltd posts its annual financials on the UK Companies House. The latest, published in June 2023, shows the company’s fiscal performance in FY 2022 (to the end of September that year). According to the latest annual report from Queen Productions Ltd. 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 (see below). (In US dollar terms, that comes to $53.9 million, as the British pound was stronger against the dollar that year.) The financial report also shows the company’s profit before tax came in at £22.16 million ($27.41 million), up 31.6% YoY, from £16.84 million ($23.17 million) in FY 2021. The numbers indicate that Queen’s rise in popularity after the 2018 Bohemian Rhapsody biopic had a long tail. The company’s turnover in FY2022 was more than triple the number in FY2016, before buzz began around the Bohemian Rhapsody movie. That year, the company’s turnover came in at £12.34 million ($16.72 million at 2016 exchange rates). As we noted in our report last year, should a sale get completed, it would become one of the biggest single-artist music catalog sales in history, easily surpassing the $500 million-plus paid by Eldridge Industries.) In February, acquired half of Michael Jackson‘s catalog from the artist’s estate for at least $600 million. Sony Music also fully acquired Bob Dylan’s catalog of recorded music in 2022.Music Business Worldwide
