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What is GNR’s catalogue worth?


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Reminds me of this Vicky Hamilton story.

"Vicky also recalls a time when she saved the band from potentially losing millions of dollars in revenue when she walked in on Axl thrashing out a deal to sell record producer Kim Fowley three of what would become the band's biggest hits from Appetite for Destruction for a mere $2,500.

She told him: 'Dude you cannot do that, we're in the middle of a bidding war with lots of record labels here you cannot sell out these songs.'

'Axl was just like "I can write a million songs" and I said 'Maybe so but can you write a million songs like these?'

'It was Welcome to the Jungle and two of the others that ended up on Appetite.

'He just said, "We really need the money". He was ready to say OK and I was like: "Are you crazy you cannot do that."

Vicky left the pair and went to do some laundry and Fowley followed her screaming at her, 'You messed up my deal! I deserve a piece of that!'"

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I'd guess it's worth a good bit more than 350 million; closer to 500 million I would have thought. Some of those songs will be played throughout the world for the next 50 years at least. I think that out of all of the LA bands GNR are the ones whose music stands the strongest chance of lasting through time.

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1 hour ago, Draguns said:

Well Axl did sell his publishing rights to Sanctuary. Universal acquired Sanctuary.

That’s what I thought, too. For 19 million. Lol. And now his ex manager is the guy acquiring a lot of these catalogs. Looks like Axl was dead wrong about Merck.

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On 12/1/2021 at 12:12 PM, King_Johnny said:

Reminds me of this Vicky Hamilton story.

"Vicky also recalls a time when she saved the band from potentially losing millions of dollars in revenue when she walked in on Axl thrashing out a deal to sell record producer Kim Fowley three of what would become the band's biggest hits from Appetite for Destruction for a mere $2,500.

She told him: 'Dude you cannot do that, we're in the middle of a bidding war with lots of record labels here you cannot sell out these songs.'

'Axl was just like "I can write a million songs" and I said 'Maybe so but can you write a million songs like these?'

'It was Welcome to the Jungle and two of the others that ended up on Appetite.

'He just said, "We really need the money". He was ready to say OK and I was like: "Are you crazy you cannot do that."

Vicky left the pair and went to do some laundry and Fowley followed her screaming at her, 'You messed up my deal! I deserve a piece of that!'"

I can somewhat see early Guns really needing the money before Appetite hit big. Good on Vicky Hamilton for looking out for them. 

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On 12/2/2021 at 4:17 PM, Ixtlan said:

That’s what I thought, too. For 19 million. Lol. And now his ex manager is the guy acquiring a lot of these catalogs. Looks like Axl was dead wrong about Merck.

It was a 20 year deal. Rights revert to Axl in late 2024 or early 2025.

Might actually explain some of his reluctance to release music. The rights might be worth a bit more if the infamous vault contains more unreleased material 

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If motley crue got about 150million then GnR would be looking at 6/700million easily enough... but that number could go way up considering how many GNR songs are constantly on classic rock radio and placed in ads and movies. 1billion sounds like a nice number.

I've been surprised by the people selling, and I'm sure GNR have been approached. Whether they want to cash out is another question.

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11 minutes ago, GoodOlJohnnyK said:

Bruce just sold For $500M. I’d think U2 and Metallica could fetch the same amount, or close to it.

Guns could probably get $200M-$250M on the back of Jungle, SCoM, and Paradise City.

Bruce's catalog includes 300 songs, including an album that, at its time at least, set the record for most hit singles on an album (Born In The USA). GNR's doesn't have 20% the number of songs as Bruce's catalog, and I'm not sure the hits are *that* much bigger. I wouldn't think GNR would be worth more than $150m by comparison to this sale, though I suppose Motley Crue just sold for bigger-than-expected amount too.

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4 minutes ago, axlslash said:

Bruce's catalog includes 300 songs, including an album that, at its time at least, set the record for most hit singles on an album (Born In The USA). GNR's doesn't have 20% the number of songs as Bruce's catalog, and I'm not sure the hits are *that* much bigger. I wouldn't think GNR would be worth more than $150m by comparison to this sale, though I suppose Motley Crue just sold for bigger-than-expected amount too.

I think a lot of these publishers are in it for the advertising dollars, rather than airplay. Bruce might do better on classic rock radio, though I’d argue that Guns still does very well on rock radio as well. You can’t turn on the radio in the Baltimore/Washington metro area without being transported back to 1985-1994.

But the real prize, I imagine, is in advertising. Welcome To The Jungle used in a major superhero movie trailer, for example. That’s where Guns could still make a strong case for themselves, certainly moreso than Motley Crue.

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2 minutes ago, GoodOlJohnnyK said:

I think a lot of these publishers are in it for the advertising dollars, rather than airplay. Bruce might do better on classic rock radio, though I’d argue that Guns still does very well on rock radio as well. You can’t turn on the radio in the Baltimore/Washington metro area without being transported back to 1985-1994.

But the real prize, I imagine, is in advertising. Welcome To The Jungle used in a major superhero movie trailer, for example. That’s where Guns could still make a strong case for themselves, certainly moreso than Motley Crue.

Oh absolutely agreed. I just think Bruce's catalog is worth at least as much. Hell, he straight up starred in a Superbowl commercial last year. GNR certainly has a few top tier licensing songs, but Bruce has a couple as well, and a whole bunch more that would be just a little bit lower.

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26 minutes ago, Original said:

Does Axl own the catalog outright or just the name of band...or how does that all work? 

The rights to use the name. He’s part owner with Slash and Duff on the catalogue of classic GNR. He must’ve really needed the $ to sell his share of the pie for 20 years for the amount he did. 

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