The past year has seen a growing trend of catalog sales. We’ve watched artists like Neil Young and Bob Dylan approve high dollar acquisitions of their works; now, The Beach Boys are the latest to follow suit.
The band struck a deal with Irving Azoff’s newly formed company Iconic Artists Group for an undisclosed sum, and took it a step further by selling a controlling interest of the group's entire intellectual property. This proves to be one of the most involved acquisitions to date, as it not only includes the The Beach Boys’ master recordings, a share of their publishing rights, and memorabilia, but the entire Beach Boys Brand, down the members’ likenesses.
The members are hopeful that will solve some longstanding issues within the band, and open up new opportunities for The Beach Boys brand to develop. Ever since the 1969 acquisition of the band's publishing company by A&M Records for only $700,000, the members have a seen a pattern of interpersonal conflict over songwriting credits and royalties.
Al Jardine told Rolling Stone, “They can make the final decision on business decisions, which is what we really need — what we have needed, I should say."
Mike Love spoke on brand development, saying, “There can be a musical on Broadway, things that we haven’t done yet. Look at what happened with the Four Seasons and Jersey Boys, a huge success around the world. There’s no reason why the same couldn’t be true of the Beach Boys.”
Only time will tell the effect of this drastic deal, but, by the looks of it, it's likely to be a good decision for everyone involved.
