Justin Bieber sells his back catalogue for £162m

Entertainment

Justin Bieber has sold his share of the rights to his music for a reported $200m (£162m).

Hipgnosis Songs Capital, which now owns the Canadian’s share of his back catalogue, will now receive a payment any time one of the songs is played in public.

The company have acquired the rights to the 290 songs Bieber released before 31 December 2021, which include the smash hits Baby, Sorry and Love Yourself.

Musicians are increasingly selling stakes in their work to music funds – with stars including Justin Timberlake and Shakira also striking deals with Hipgnosis.

The trend is more common among older artists, with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon all recently securing multimillion-dollar deals for their work.

The Hipgnosis Songs Fund is a $1bn (£811m) venture between Hipgnosis Song Management and the financial firm Blackstone.

Read more:
Sting sells the rights to his music
Why are so many huge stars selling their music rights?

Merck Mercuriadis, who founded the fund, has previously said hit songs can be “more valuable than gold or oil”.

On striking the deal with Bieber, he said: “The impact of Justin Bieber on global culture over the last 14 years has truly been remarkable.

“At only 28 years of age, he is one of a handful of defining artists of the streaming era that has revitalized the entire music industry, taking a loyal and worldwide audience with him on a journey from teen phenomenon to culturally important artist.”

Click to subscribe to Backstage wherever you get your podcasts

Bieber’s manager for 15 years, Scooter Braun, said: “When Justin made the decision to make a catalogue deal, we quickly found the best partner to preserve and grow this amazing legacy was Merck and Hipgnosis.”

Articles You May Like

Cocoa prices are soaring to record levels. What it means for consumers and why ‘the worst is still yet to come’
How Tory MPs can get rid of Sunak – and who could be in the running to replace him
Conspiracies to compassion: How the tone in the US has changed after Kate’s cancer announcement
Oil rises after Ukraine strikes Russian refineries, Moscow orders output cuts to meet OPEC+ pledge
The UK is regulating memes about crypto and other investments to curb scams from ‘finfluencers’