As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Phil Collins and other Genesis members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford have sold the rights to their songs to Concord Music Group for an estimated $300 million.
Genesis has an extensive music catalog with fifteen studio and six live albums, including four multiplatinum records. They’ve become one of the best-selling rock acts of all time, with over 100 million albums sold worldwide. Besides the band’s remarkable works, Genesis members have also pursued solo careers. Phil Collins released eight solo LPs featuring number-1 singles and won eight Grammys.
Tony Banks also produced six solo studio albums, while Mike Rutherford enriched his music catalog with two solo LPs and nine albums with Mike and the Mechanics. Thus, it is not surprising that several companies were enthusiastically working to sign a deal with Genesis. After months of long negotiations that started in early January, Phil Collins and Genesis have finally settled on a deal with Concord to sell their music catalog for $300 million, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
The deal includes their works together as Genesis and as solo artists. The works of Peter Gabriel and other former band members were not a part of the deal. In a statement shared by Concord president Bob Valentine, the company plans to bring the band’s catalog to a younger audience through various social media channels. It seems like we are very likely to hear more Genesis in the following days.
Concord President Bob Valentine said the following in an interview with the Wall Street Journal:
“In the world we live in today with Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, all these things that drive consumption of older music, there are definitely ways for us as a record company to bring some of this music back to life.”
However, Collins and Genesis are not the first names to sell their publishing rights. They have actually joined a long list of notable artists, including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, David Crosby, Neil Young, Stevie Nicks, ZZ Top, and Sting, who decided following the pandemic that selling their music catalog would be more beneficial than depending on their career.
