Iron Maiden sold half their catalogue, and Eddie went with it
Pophouse, co-founded by ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus, has bought 50% of Iron Maiden's publishing and master rights — plus the band's name, image and their mascot Eddie.
Iron Maiden have just done the deal that most bands their age have already done, except with a clause nobody had quite seen before: they sold half the rights, and Eddie went in the box.
The buyer is Pophouse Entertainment, the Swedish investment firm co-founded by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus. It has taken 50% of the band’s publishing and master recording rights, plus name, image and likeness rights — which, in Maiden’s case, includes the skeletal creature that has been on the album covers since 1980 and is probably the most valuable mascot in the history of metal.
How much did Pophouse pay for Iron Maiden?
Nobody is saying, and probably nobody will: the terms were not disclosed. What exists is a useful yardstick — Pophouse’s own KISS deal was reported at more than 300 million dollars and covered similar ground, taking in the song catalogue, name and likeness, and the artists’ share of masters and publishing. The Maiden agreement was structured over the past year with the band’s co-manager, Andy Taylor.
If you are doing the maths in your head, do it slowly. KISS have a shorter, more instantly recognisable catalogue; Maiden have seventeen studio albums and a fanbase that buys everything. Different shapes entirely, and the silence on the number exists precisely to stop people making that comparison.
So what changes for the fans?
Less than the panic suggests. Pophouse does not buy catalogues to file them away — it buys them to work them, and it has already said how. It is filming the current Run for Your Lives tour for a major cinematic project, wants to expand interactive fan experiences, and plans to build a digital universe around Eddie. If that sounds like ABBA Voyage with axes instead of sequins, that is roughly the logic.
What is less clear is where tribute ends and franchise begins. Selling your name and image is a different thing from selling your songs: the songs stay as they are, the image can be sent off to do things. That is the deal, and the band walked into it with their eyes open.
Portugal caught them just in time — Maiden filled the Estádio da Luz on 7 July, so anyone who was there can now say they saw the band in the exact week it half changed hands. The tour rolls on, and the dates live on the band’s official site.
By Lucy Bennett
Image: Mike Lawrence / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
