I Wanna Hold Your Licensing Arm : Sony Hopes to Cash In on the Beatle Boomers

The licensing arm of Sony Corp. has a ticket to ride, and it is taking it as far as it can.

Sony Signatures thinks it can cash in on interest in the Beatles that is expected to follow an upcoming three-night television special and take sales of Beatles mugs, board games, greeting cards and T-shirts to a new level. Though the defunct 1960s band remains one of the music industry’s highest-grossing acts, sales of Beatles merchandise pales next to otheracts from yesteryear, such as Elvis Presley.

Dell Furano, president of Sony Signatures, expects to sell $200 million of Beatles paraphernalia over the next two years, mostly to baby boomers nostalgic for a “time that was simple and fun,” he said. The Sony unit acquired licensing rights to all classic images of the Beatles from the band’s company, Apple Corps.

Sony is hoping to capitalize not only on renewed interest in the Beatles but also on an overall revival of interest in entertainment figures from the 1950s and ‘60s. “It hits you on an emotional level, and we’re seeing it industrywide,” Furano said. “Take what’s happened with Marilyn [Monroe] and with Elvis. Look at all those Jerry Garcia ties.”

Although the Beatles split up in 1970, the group is one of the most lucrative acts in the entertainment business, expected to take in about $130 million in 1994-95. Forbes magazine recently ranked them as the world’s No. 3 entertainment phenomenon, behind Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey.

Apple/Capitol Records’ 1994 release of the double-CD set “Live at the BBC” sold 4 million copies in the United States alone. ABC is expecting 50 million viewers to watch its three-night “The Beatles Anthology,” for which it paid Apple Corps $20 million. The program begins airing Nov. 19.

Licensing of Beatles’ merchandise has been a relatively small part of the mix, bringing in about $50 million in retail sales over the last three years, according to Furano. He said the former Beatles hadn’t focused that much attention on licensing.

In order to squeeze more from the Beatles license, Furano said he is planning aggressive marketing, including a Beatles convention and an effort to reach fans overseas, particularly in Great Britain and Japan.

The big if is whether anyone but baby boomers will buy Beatles stuff in significant numbers.

Some are predicting that the Beatles will catch on with teen-agers, who may watch the TV special with their parents.

Grey Entertainment, which is handling the promotional chores for the ABC special, is planning stunts it thinks will get the attention of teen-agers, such as painting buses in Los Angeles and New York yellow, reminiscent of the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine.”

According to Denny Somach, president of Musicom, a Pennsylvania company that sells lithographs of Beatles album covers, half of the people who buy Beatles CDs are between the ages of 35 and 54. He said 10% are teen-agers.

But some students of the Beatles see signs that the ranks of youthful fans may be increasing.

Bill King, editor of Beatlesfan magazine, said he recently started a youth page titled “Helter Skelter” because he began receiving mail from children 6 to 12 years old.

King believes the youth are discovering their parents’ music and liking it.

“I think where they will be the weakest is with the MTV generation,” King said. “With older teens and 20-year-olds is where they will have the hardest time making headway.”

King said the success of Beatles memorabilia depends on how tasteful it is. He recalled a John Lennon whiskey decanter a few years ago that bombed.

“Beatles fans aren’t like Elvis fans,” he said. “They won’t buy just anything.”

Sony says Apple Corps approves all the items and that they will be tasteful.

“No bobbing heads,” Furano said.

The T-shirts are expected to go on sale in November.

If Sony hits its sales goal, the Beatles could surpass Presley, the king of rock, but that won’t make them the king of licensing, said Karen Raugust, editor of the New York-based trade publication the Licensing Letter.

That title goes to Disney’s “The Lion King,” which has racked up about $1 billion in sales of licensed merchandise.

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Money, That’s What They’ve Got

For the first time this decade, the Beatles made Forbes magazine’s list of top-earning entertainers, based on 1994-95 estimated earnings, in millions:

Steven Spielberg

1995 earnings estimate: $120

1994 earnings: $165

Oprah Winfrey

1995 earnings estimate: $74

1994 earnings: $72

Beatles

1995 earnings estimate: $100

1994 earnings: $30

Rolling Stones

1995 earnings estimate: $71

1994 earnings: $50

Eagles

1995 earnings estimate: $43

1994 earnings: $52

Source: Forbes