People = Cash: Slipknot eyeing up a £120 million catalogue sale to investment firm

Slipknot are rumoured to be close to a deal to sell their back catalogue for up to £120 million to an investment group called Harbour View Equity Partners.

According to Billboard, the deal will cover both the rights to their publishing and master recording royalties, but crucially, will not include any future releases. At this stage, it is unclear how many members of the band are involved in the deal – membership of the Iowan metallers has fluctuated over the years and with more ex-members involved that figure of £120 million could rise.

Neither is it clear whether the deal covers the band’s images, which as we know, are a crucial part of their brand, and thus their value.

Up till now, catalogue sales have usually been conducted by artists coming towards the end of their careers, with a view to securing the future for their children.

However, Kevin Parker and Tame Impala sold both his back catalogue and future rights to Sony last year for an undisclosed sum, an interesting move given that Parker isn’t yet 40 and still, presumably, has many decades of making music ahead of him.

Of course, the likes of Pink Floyd, Kiss and Bob Dylan amongst others have already gone down this route. The biggest sale of this kind to date has been Queen’s, who sold their catalogue to Sony last year for a cool $1.27 billion.

Slipknot - Prosthetics (Demo) [OFFICIAL AUDIO] - YouTube

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Slipknot’s sale would come at a pivotal stage in the band’s career. The band have released seven albums over their thirty year history, but left Roadrunner Records in 2022 after the release of The End, So Far that same year. Since then there has been talk that the band have started work on a new record but nothing more. Last year they even teased a new single Long May You Die, but have yet to release any track with that title.

One thing that is definitely happening is a 25^th anniversary of their self-titled debut album. That arrives next month with a package that includes an incredible 40 unreleased tracks, new artwork, demo and live recordings and unseen images from the band’s archives. You can pre order your copy here.