Queen could soon be the latest artist to sell their catalog, and the reported estimated sum of the sale would be historic.
Per CNN, Universal Music Group is in discussions to acquire the Queen catalog from Disney Music Group. The price tag? Reportedly over $1 billion. However, Disney Music Group denies the potential sale telling 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.”
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.”