Genesis performing live. Photo Credit: Andrew Bossi
Concord has officially acquired the recorded and publishing catalogs of Genesis members Phil Collins, Tony Banks, and Mike Rutherford.
Concord just recently detailed the sizable purchase, which arrives weeks after its buyout of the HitCo catalog and about two months following a deal for Australian publisher Native Tongue. According to Nashville-headquartered Concord, this latest play encompasses song rights from the mentioned artists’ solo careers as well as their stakes in Genesis releases.
71-year-old Phil Collins has dropped eight studio albums (and boasts a relatively substantial 16.22 million monthly listeners on Spotify), whereas 72-year-old Tony Banks has made six albums available to fans as a solo act. Meanwhile, 71-year-old Mike Rutherford has 11 albums to his credit outside of Genesis, referring specifically to two solo projects and nine albums from Mike and the Mechanics.
Genesis itself released 15 studio albums between 1969 and 1997, and the works include well-known tracks like “Invisible Touch” and “I Can’t Dance.” However, Concord made clear that “the participation of Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett in the early Genesis albums” is “not encompassed in the acquisition.”
On the valuation front, Concord hasn’t publicly identified the precise sum that it paid Genesis. Nevertheless, the Wall Street Journal has indicated that the deal is worth north of $300 million – making it one of the more expensive song-rights plays of 2022.
Of course, the exact values of many other catalog sales likewise remain concealed from the media spotlight. But the year’s first nine months have delivered a reportedly $100 million IP sale from Justin Timberlake, a massive catalog sale from Neil Diamond, a reportedly $100 million sale from Jason Aldean, a reportedly $300 million sale from Sting, and, most recently, an undoubtedly expensive transaction for three-quarters of Avicii’s catalog.
The Genesis members who are receiving a windfall from the deal didn’t address the agreement in statements, but their “longtime” manager, Tony Smith, touted a strong relationship with Concord in remarks of his own.
“Concord is one of the global leaders in music with whom we have been working for many years on the publishing side which we are extending to the whole recording catalogue together with publishing; we have been impressed by their good judgment and sensibilities as to the wishes of the artists and we are confident that alongside the respective continued relationships with record labels Warner Music and BMG, we leave the future ownership of the catalogue in their capable hands, safe in the knowledge that the heritage will be protected,” Smith relayed in a 90-word-long sentence.
Besides the above-highlighted catalog megadeals, 2022 has also brought a collection of smaller-scale sales, including purchases involving the work of Future, Florida Georgia Line, Justin Bieber, and Chuck D in September alone.