Phil Collins and the other members of Genesis have reportedly received $300 million (£269 million) for selling the rights to their songs.
The rights have been acquired by Concord Music, which also announced that Collins’ popular solo albums…But Seriously No Jacket Required was included in the transaction.
The Wall Street Journal cited $300m but did not specify a number. That would place Collins and Genesis behind just Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan as the artists with the largest contract of their sort.
These two rock icons just sold their catalogs for $400 million to $500 million. In 2021, Neil Young made an additional $150 million by selling a 50% stake in his music.
Recent years have seen a significant increase in the sale of star catalogs, with musicians like Blondie, Shakira, Mark Ronson, Chic, Tina Turner, and The Killers also selling their songwriting rights for sizable upfront payments.
The agreements provide their immediate financial security while preventing their music from becoming embroiled in protracted legal disputes after their passing.
In exchange, investors, who can include hedge funds and record labels, profit from all future royalties generated by sales, streams, and licensing agreements.
Genesis, a progressive rock band founded in 1969 and initially headed by Peter Gabriel, rose to prominence.
After drummer Collins took up lead vocal duties and subsequently led the band in a more pop-rock direction alongside Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford, the group managed to survive Gabriel’s departure in 1975.
Gabriel and another former member, Steve Hackett, are not covered by Concord’s contract, but the latter does include top 10 singles including Invisible Touch, Mama, That’s All and Abacab.
According to the trade newspaper Billboard, Collins’ solo discography had previously been auctioned off for somewhere about $200 million.
Eventually, that developed into a broader deal that featured songs by Banks and Rutherford, as well as Rutherford’s side-project Mike + The Mechanics.
The most alluring aspect of the deal is probably Collins’ string of hit singles from the 1980s and 1990s, which includes songs like In Against All Odds, Sussudio, and Another Day in Paradise.
More than 500 million people have listened to In The Air Tonight, his most streamed song, according to Spotify, while Invisible Touch by Genesis has received about 170 million plays.
Bob Valentine, the president of Concord, stated that the company will bring the music to a new audience of listeners.
There are ways for us as a record company to bring some of this music back to life in the world we live in today with Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, all these things that drive consumption of older music, he told the Wall Street Journal.
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