Queen sells their catalogue
for a billion pounds.
Johnny Marr is an English musician, songwriter, and singer (born Johnny Martin Maher) in Manchester in October 1963 and at the age of 13 formed his first band, the Paris Valentinos. He played in several bands, the most recent being Freak Party. But by early 1982, after losing their singer, Marr approached Rob Allman, the singer with White Dice. He showed little interest and instead suggested Steven Morrissey, the singer with the Nosebleeds. In May, and through a third-party it was arranged for Marr to meet Morrissey at his home. They seemed to hit it off and with Marr’s first bass player, Andy Rourke, and Mike Joyce on drums they formed the Smiths.
Within months they signed to Rough Trade Records and in May 1983 released their first single “Hand in Glove.” Now with an ever-growing fan base they recorded their first album, which was released in early 1984 and reached number two in the UK Chart. This was quickly followed by their second album, the controversial, “Meat is Murder.”
Their third album “The Queen Is Dead” was awarded the accolade by Spin magazine as being one of the greatest albums ever made. This resulted in the NME dubbing the Smiths the most important rock band of all time.
Marr's guitar sounds are instantly recognisable, with his jangly Rickenbacker and Fender Telecaster and synonymous with the Smith’s sound. Marr said, when performing with the band, he wanted to play a music which was pop. "100% of my focus was on providing interesting guitar hooks and putting some kind of space-age twist on the guitarist's role. The pop guitarist crossed with the mad professor. That's how I thought of myself."
In early 1986, Rourke was fired by the band for his use of heroin, but within weeks he was reinstated. But other problems were already looming and despite their continued success, personal differences within the band and the increasingly strained relationship between Morrissey and Marr created a huge problem.
Marr left the group in July 1987, and despite auditions to find a replacement no one was considered suitable. So, by the time their next tranche of music was released the band had long split.
One of the reasons given by Morrissey was the fact that Marr was working and recording with other artists, however, he later told Tim Samuels, a BBC journalist, that it was due to the lack of a managerial figure and business problems.
Marr's guitar playing had a massive effect on many of the Manchester bands that followed the Smiths including: John Squire - Stone Roses, Noel Gallagher - Oasis, and no doubt many more. He has since performed with numerous other bands and singers including: the Pretenders, Pet Shop Boys, collaborating with Hans Zimmer, on film soundtracks, Talking Heads. Joss Stone, Bryan Ferry and so many more.
In 2010 in a poll conducted by the BBC, Marr was voted the fourth-best guitarist of the last 30 years and Phil Alexander, editor-in-chief of Mojo described him as "arguably Britain's last great guitar stylist." In 2013, the NME, honoured Marr with its "Godlike Genius" award: "Not content with rewriting the history of music with one of the world's greatest ever bands, the Smiths, he's continued to push boundaries and evolve throughout his career, working with some of the best and most exciting artists on the planet."
Despite several attempts at reforming the Smiths it seems very unlikely.
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BY-------Graham Sclater
In the world of music where the almost non-existent royalty income from
streaming has become the norm, it is refreshing to see that music still has
a value. Recently, rock band, Queen were reportedly on the verge of selling
the rights to their catalogue of music for a sum in the region of one billions
pounds ($1.2 billion) to Sony, although they will retain income from live
performances.
Their music catalogue is one of the most valuable in the world with airplay
every day of such great tracks as: “Bohemian Rhapsody,”
“Another One Bites the Dust,” “Radio GaGa,” “Somebody to Love” and
“You’re My Best Friend” as well as the tracks played around the world at
sporting events including: “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions,”
which are incredibly lucrative when played to such large crowds. To put
things in perspective, Queen’s Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon and the estate of the late Freddie Mercury who are all equal shareholders in Queen Productions Ltd, recorded eye-watering revenues of $52 million (£40.8 million) in 2022
Once the deal is agreed it will allow Sony to maximise the potential of Queen’s music for soundtrack synchronisation in films, television, advertising and so many other areas that will continue to generate eye-watering income.
The huge income is not restricted to their music but also to their personal effects. Last year the sale of Mercury’s 1973 Yamaha Grand used to write Bohemian Rhapsody sold at Sotheby’s for £1.7 million, exceeding the amount for John Lennon’s Steinway which he used to write “Imagine.” Mercury’s handwritten lyrics for Bohemian Rhapsody sold for $1.7 million. The fifteen pages of lyrics revealed a little known fact that the original title was to be Mongolian Rhapsody before he altered it.
They are certainly not the first, but their deal is by far the biggest to date. Bruce Springsteen sold his publishing and recording-music rights to Sony for $600 million while Bob Dylan sold his publishing to Universal for almost $400 million. Earlier this year Sony also acquired 50% of Michael Jackson’s music from his estate for £472 million.
It was possibly quite fortuitous for Brian May who recently had a stroke and despite the early scares that he couldn’t use his left hand it is reported that the feeling is returning and should be able to play his outstanding music once again. If all the deals go through it will make Sony the biggest catalogue owners of music in the world.
I did think about those artists who are selling their music and decided that it is better to have the financial benefit of their talent whilst still alive rather than have their catalogue involved in litigation over ownership and if still alive they are able to decide who they wish to sell it to.
There is so much great music out there and I do wonder who will be next but there will certainly be many more in the coming months and years.
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