Roger Waters’ Publishing Deal With BMG Reportedly Ending After Israel Comments

Cait Stoddard January 30th, 2024 - 12:37 PM

According to stereogum.com, Roger Waters‘s opposition toward Israel has received backlash from former bandmate David Gilmour and others, who have argued that Waters’s view points into alleged antisemitism. And now, Waters’s stances have reportedly scared off potential buyers for Pink Floyd’s catalog, resulting in Waters losing a publishing deal.

According to Variety, BMG is preparing to sever its relationship with the former Pink Floyd member and the report points out that in an interview with journalist Glenn Greenwald two months ago, Waters spoke of being “fired” by BMG. Source close to BMG said the company’s new CEO Thomas Coesfeld, who nixed BMG’s release of Waters’ re-recorded The Dark Side Of The Moon this past year, personally made the decision to part ways with Waters.

Although labels sometimes drop artists from their recording contracts over controversies, it is relatively rare to lose a publishing deal. Variety notes that a judge redirected sex criminal R. Kelly’s publishing royalties from Sony Music and Universal to his victims, and Sony allowed its publishing deal with Kanye West to expire following his alleged antisemitic rhetoric.

Waters has also faced career repercussions for his comments on Ukraine by allegedly saying he that Russia’s invasion was illegal but “not unprovoked” and that “extreme nationalists” set Ukraine on the path to way, which led to Poland canceling some of Waters’s shows.

Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna