Genesis trio sells master recordings and publishing rights

Genesis have reached a deal with CONDORD

The topic caused a lot of discussion among fans: At the end of September it became known that Genesis (Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford) sold the rights to their songs - Genesis incl. their solo careers - to the American music publishing company CONCORD for 300 million US$. First the Wall Street Journal reported about it, meanwhile CONCORD itself has also announced it on their website.

What does this mean in concrete terms?

Concord now owns all copyright and publishing rights to the "recorded music" of Genesis, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford (including Mike + The Mechanics) and Phil Collins. In the case of Genesis, that definitely includes all songs and albums from 1978-1992 - because Steve Hackett and Peter Gabriel are not part of the deal (nor are Ray Wilson and Anthony Phillips). The press release states: Concord has purchased the publishing and recorded music catalogues of Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford, as well as the publishing and recorded music catalogue from their years in the band Genesis. This could mean that it includes pre-1978 (and post-1992) albums and recordings, but without the share that Hackett and Gabriel (and Phillips and Wilson) still own.

Tony Smith (Genesis manager) says about the deal: “This is a catalogue of music that we are all extremely proud of and it means a great deal to many fans. 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.”

So, in purely technical terms, this means first of all that all royalties for the music will no longer go to Tony, Mike and Phil in future, but to Concord. In addition, there are existing contracts with Warner and BMG, who can continue to realise releases on this basis in agreement with the band. Possible reissues of existing productions (e.g. the 5.1 recordings, the albums in general etc.) are therefore (presumably) only possible through Warner or BMG for the time being.

Genesis themselves could always record new music and release it outside from this deal, but that's not going to happen because Genesis have ended their career.

Please note that this is a general assessment, as we do not know the details of the contracts. Should we have any new findings, we will add or correct them here accordingly.

Photo: Volker Warncke

published on 03.10.22 11:20 by Christian @ Genesis