No, actually, that’s not all after the farewell tour. The Wall Street Journal reports that Phil Collins and Genesis have sold “a bundle†of their music rights for a whopping $300 million, which includes the majority of their publishing copyrights, recorded music revenue streams, and masters. Concord Music Group, which purchased the rights (as opposed to Hipgnosis, the song fund that just won’t quit), confirmed that the acquisition includes all of the solo work from Collins, guitarist Mike Rutherford, and synth smokeshow Tony Banks, in addition to Genesis’s discography following the departure of Peter Gabriel. In a statement, Concord Music’s president alluded to wanting to give the trio their very own Kate Bush-in-Stranger Things moment as soon as possible. “In the world we live in today with Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, all these things that drive consumption of older music,†he said, “there are definitely ways for us as a record company to bring some of this music back to life.â€
The $300 million payday for such an immense catalogue of music rights puts Collins and Genesis into the upper echelon of transactions. Bruce Springsteen was reported to have received a historic $550 million when he sold in 2021, while Bob Dylan was said to command a similar $300 million check back in 2020. Neil Young also sold half of his catalogue for $150 million in 2021, which he said was inspired by estate planning. So, yeah, we guess you can say “Sussudio†is just as important as “Like a Rolling Stone.â€