Last week I got a eye-popping email from my old buddy JT. As a person with a career in the music industry as a musician and engineer, he keeps an eye peeled on the horizon for things which can evade my outsider gaze. Consider the case of Royalty Exchange: a transparent marketplace of songwriting royalties where the valuation of a songwriting or publishing catalog accompanies the sale of such assets. This marketplace reveals the income stats of any assets sold there to help make valuation hew closer to the reality so that no one gets any regrets and the power gets evenly distributed. An admirable goal.

As of last weekend, someone was selling the royalty rights to an early career batch of 107 songs by Simple Minds. Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill, the current members of Simple Minds Tours Ltd. sold their catalog to their current label, BMG. These are the sorts of big money deals where rock stars of as certain age take a cash out and at least in this case, they didn’t sell to one of the upstart music IP firms like Hipgnosis. And they are becoming very commonplace.

Given the list of songs, and the points in time where past members exited the band, I’m suspecting that these rights being auctioned are from original drummer Brian McGee’s shares in the band. His time ended in 1981 as he was taken to the limit in his years playing drums, and yes, driving the band all over Europe in vans since he was the one with a driver’s license. If it were Derek Forbes, it would include material from “New Gold Dream [81, 82, 83, 84]” and “Sparkle In The Rain.” McNeill only left after “Street Fighting Years.” So it has to be McGee.

I have to admit that I am always interested in the financial side of this business called “show.” I always wonder just how easy it is for my favorite musicians to secure a living on the backs of the music they create. Always with the goal of dropping the “side gig” and fully committing to their artistic goals. In the case of Simple Minds, they can be said to have crossed that line in 1982, with the hit single breakthroughs that accompanied the singles from “New Gold Dream [81, 82, 83, 84].” but the foundation was clear a year earlier, when they had their first taste of a hit in the Canadian and Australian territories first with “The American.” Still, that song is part of the packages being currently auctioned off.

Simple Minds Royalty Rights Song Catalog

1. 20th Century Promised Land
2. 20th Century Promised Land
3. Boys From Brazil
4. Boys From Brazil
5. Cacophony
6. Cacophony
7. Calling Your Name
8. Capital City
9. Capital City
10. Careful In Career
11. Careful In Career
12. Carnival
13. Celebrate
14. Celebrate
15. Celebrate
16. Changeling
17. Changeling
18. Citizen
19. Constantinople Line
20. Dead Vandals
21. Dead Vandals
22. Desire
23. Ecstasy
24. Ecstasy
25. Factory
26. Factory
27. Factory
28. Film Theme
29. Flippin
30. Great Cities
31. Great Cities
32. Home And Away 36
33. Home And Away 55
34. I Travel
35. I Travel
36. In Trance As Mission
37. In Trance As Mission
38. Kaleidoscope
39. Kaleidoscope
40. Kant-Kino
41. League Of Nations
42. League Of Nations
43. Life In Oils
44. Love Building Beauty
45. Love Cares
46. Love Song
47. Love Song
48. Miracle
49. Monster
50. Monster
51. Monster
52. Monstermental
53. Naked Eye
54. Naked Eye
55. Naked Eye
56. New Warm Skin
57. Nuttin’ But Love
58. Nuttin’ But Love
59. Outsider
60. Perfect Motion
61. Premonition
62. Premonition
63. Ready Or Not
64. Real Life
65. Real To Real
66. Real To Real
67. Room
68. Saints And Sinners
69. Saints And Sinners
70. Scar
71. Scar
72. Seeing Out The Angel
73. Seeing Out The Angel
74. Seventy Cities As Love Brings The Fall
75. Seventy Cities As Love Brings The Fall
76. Sons And Fascination
77. Sons And Fascination
78. Sweat In Bullet
79. Sweat In Bullet
80. The American
81. The American
82. The Key
83. The Key
84. The Real Life
85. The Real Life
86. The Real Life
87. The Real Life 2001
88. The Universe Won’t Mind
89. Theme For Great Cities
90. Theme For The Cities
91. Theme For The Cities
92. Thirty Frames A Second
93. Thirty Frames A Second
94. This Earth That You Walk Upon
95. This Earth That You Walk Upon
96. This Fear Of Gods
97. This Fear Of Gods
98. Today I Died Again
99. Today I Died Again
100. Twist Run Repulsion
101. Twist Run Repulsion
102. Veldt
103. Veldt
104. Waiting For Another Chance
105. Waiting For Another Chance
106. Wonderful In Young Life
107. Wonderful In Young Life

Many of these songs were listed under multiple instances. Perhaps indicating multiple recording instances of the performance. Sampling is accounted for since the 2002 Liquid People VS Simple Minds single “Monster” is there in several mix variants. Intriguingly, the titles in red are either unknown or have pointers to later material, such as the variations on “The Real Life.” Perhaps indicating that the 1990s song was based on something older. And some of these unknown titles are not from known entities, such as the withdrawn “Early Years” collection.

As of last weekend, there were two auctions. One for the Songwriting Royalties and another for the Publishing Royalties. But while I was beginning to write this, the latter closed and is a currently a pending sale. Let’s look at what was on the decks in the Publishing Royalty auction. Publishing is related to the composing of the songs, apart from the actual recordings of the band, which are not included here. BMG currently owns the recordings, but even they have to pay publishing royalties to the publishing rights holders.

Publishing Royalty Sale [CLOSED]

This was where the publishing income for the songs was taken from a variety of payment sources. It included mechanical, public performance, and sync rights. And it encompassed streaming, radio, download, CD sales, media placements, and performances as paid by Sony Music Publishing. In the last 12 months, it paid out $2,605, and sold for $45,000 to the winning bidder. If the last 12 months is anything to go by, the winner had better be young because that level of payout will go into the black after seventeen years.

Songwriting Royalty Sale

Things get a little more interesting with the Songwriting Royalties, which pay out at higher levels than publishing. Monies are paid my the UK’s PRS agency. This includes only public performance rights, for streaming, radio, and media placement, but the level of payout is greater than with the publishing. The last 12 months have yielded $9,434 and the current price is set to $113,000. Which would go into the black in roughly a dozen years at the current levels of interest. The songs are the same 107 as listed above for Publishing Royalties.

Sound Recording Royalties Sale

And while I was writing this post, the rights holder has also initiated another sale, this time for the Sound Recording Royalties as administered by Universal Music Group Recordings. The income generated by the sales, streaming and sync rights to the actual recordings we all know and love. If your pockets are deep enough, it could be you who earns coin with every play and sale of “Love Song.” The listing of 124 titles included both songs and albums containing these songs as shown below.

Simple Minds Sound Recording Royalty Rights Listing

1. 101 NO.1 HITS
2. 101 PUNK & NEW WAVE ANTHEMS
3. 12″ 80’S ELECTROPOP
4. 12″/80’S NEW WAVE
5. 20TH CENTURY PROMISED LAND
6. 70 CITIES AS LOVE BRINGS THE FALL
7. 80’s Legends
8. ABSOLUTE 80S UNWIND
9. ALL FOR YOU
10. ALLE 40 GOED – DRIVING SONGS
11. ANTHEMS ALTERNATIVE 80S
12. BANGING ON THE DOOR
13. BIG GOLD DREAMS – A STORY OF S
14. BOB STANLEY & PETE WIGGS PRESENT
15. BOYS FROM BRAZIL
16. CACOPHONY
17. CALLING YOUR NAME
18. CAPITAL CITY
19. CAREFUL IN CAREER
20. CARNIVAL (SHELTER IN A SUITCAS
21. CELEBRATE
22. CELEBRATE GREATEST HITS
23. CELEBRATE: THE COLLECTION
24. CELEBRATION
25. CHANGELING
26. CHELSEA GIRL
27. CITIZEN (DANCE OF YOUTH)
28. CLASSIC COUNTDOWN
29. CONSTANTINOPLE LINE
30. DE EXPLOSIEVE 1000 VAN RADIO 2
31. DE PRE HISTORIE 80
32. DEATH BY CHOCOLATE
33. DESTINY
34. EARLY GOLD
35. ELECTRONIC 80’S (MINISTRY OF S
36. ELECTROSPECTIVE: THE REMIXES
37. EMPIRES AND DANCE
38. FACTORY
39. FILM THEME
40. Forty: The Best Of Simple Minds
41. GARDEN OF HATE
42. GENERATION 80 VOL. 2
43. HAPPY IS THE MAN
44. HELLO
45. HET BESTE UIT JOE’S 80IES TOP
46. I TRAVEL
47. ICON
48. IN TRANCE AS MISSION
49. JEWELLER TO THE STARS
50. JOE TOP 2000 VOL. 11
51. KALEIDOSCOPE
52. KANT-KINO
53. LAS 50 MEJORES CANCIONES DE LO
54. LEAGUE OF NATIONS
55. LIFE IN A DAY
56. LIFE IN OILS
57. LONDON
58. LOVE SONG
59. MEDLEY: LOVE SONG / GLORY
60. METHODS OF DANCE
61. MURDER STORY
62. NAKED EYE
63. NEON COWBOYS
64. NEW ROMANTICS
65. NEW WARM SKIN
66. NEW WAVE CLUB CLASSIX
67. NO CURE
68. NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL NEW WAVE
69. NOW YEARBOOK EXTRA 1981
70. NTWIC PUNK & NEW WAVE
71. PAUL OAKENFOLD: GENERATIONS
72. PLEASANTLY DISTURBED
73. PREMONITION
74. PRIDE
75. REEL TO REAL CACOPHONY
76. ROOM
77. SAD AFFAIR
78. SCAR
79. SEEING OUT THE ANGEL
80. SHAKE THE FOUNDATIONS – MILITA
81. SHE KNOWS
82. SILVER BOX
83. SIMPLE MINDS GIFT PACK
84. SIMPLE MINDS/CELEBRATE GREATEST
85. SIMPLE MINDS/CELEBRATE: THE CO
86. SIMPLE MINDS/CLASSIC ALBUM SEL
87. SIMPLE MINDS/EARLY GOLD
88. SIMPLE MINDS/REEL TO REAL CACO
89. SIMPLE MINDS/THE BEST OF SIMPL
90. SIMPLE MINDS/THE VINYL COLLECT
91. SINNER’S DAY – 40 YEARS OF NEW
92. SINNER’S DAY 2018 – 40 YEARS O
93. SLEEPING
94. SMASH HITS NO.1S
95. SOMEONE
96. SONS AND FASCINATION
97. SOUND IN 70 CITIES
98. SPACE
99. SPECIAL VIEW
100. SWEAT IN BULLET
101. SWEAT IN BULLET (EXTENDED REMI
102. SYNTHESIZER HITS
103. Simple Minds – 5 ALBUM SET
104. THE #1 NEW WAVE ALBUM
105. THE AMERICAN
106. THE BEST OF SIMPLE MINDS
107. THE HITS ALBUM – THE NO 1S ALB
108. THEME FOR GREAT CITIES
109. THEMES
110. THEMES – VOLUME 1
111. THEMES – VOLUME 5
112. THIRTY FRAMES A SECOND
113. THIS EARTH THAT YOU WALK UPON
114. THIS FEAR OF GODS
115. TODAY I DIED AGAIN
116. TRAVELLING MAN
117. TWIST/RUN/REPULSION
118. ULTIMATE PUNK & NEW WAVE
119. VARIOUS ARTISTS/12″80’S NEW WA
120. VARIOUS ARTISTS/LONDON – 20 CL
121. VELDT
122. WASTELAND
123. WONDERFUL IN YOUNG LIFE
124. X5

The last 12 months have paid out $2,245 in royalties and a $15,000 offer was made 42 minutes ago, so this one could play out much longer. It could be interesting to see how these sales pan out, giving the current rights owner a large cash injection for their golden years. Follow the links if you are curious.

Simple Minds Songwriting Royalties SALE

Simple Minds Sound Recording Royalties SALE

-30-