MUSIC
Justin Bieber sells entire back catalogue for huge sum
Canadian-born popstar Justin Bieber relinquished rights to his entire life’s work to Hipgnosis Song Management, selling all the music he’s made since 2021.
Justin Bieber has sold the rights to his entire back catalogue, including hit songs like ‘Baby’ and ‘Sorry’ to Hipgnosis Songs Capital for what is rumored to be $200 million.
The company now owns any song the 28-year-old singer published before 2021, making royalties every time a song is played from the 290-song collection — including the profit on the writer’s share and master recordings.
In a statement from Scooter Braun, Bieber’s manager of 15 years, Bieber’s team thanked Hipgnosis for making the historic deal happen.
“When Justin made the decision to make a catalog deal, we quickly found the best partner to preserve and grow this amazing legacy was Merck and Hipgnosis,” Braun said. “For 15 years I have been grateful to witness this journey and today I am happy for all those involved. Justin’s greatness is just beginning.”
Artists who sell the rights to their music
Bieber is one of many artists who have sold the rights to their life’s work.
The star joins the likes of Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, and Shakira, who have all recently sold their music catalogues to song management and record giants for substantial sums of money.
Many of Hipgnosis’ biggest acquisitions have been Canadian-born artists, with the firm securing a multi-million dollar deal with Bob Rock for royalty rights to his work on 43 Metallica songs, including their hit ’Enter Sandman’, and Michael Buble’s ‘Christmas Hits’.
Neil Young sold rights to over a thousand of his songs, signing off on Hipgnosis taking a 50 percent stake in his collection.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund
The billion-dollar firm Hipgnosis has acquired major contracts with internationally renowned artists, gearing up for a litany of new revenue streams for music across social media platforms.
Hipgnosis founder, Merck Mercuriadis, who previously declared that old hit songs can be “more valuable than gold or oil”, announced the latest deal as well.
In a statement shared with CBC News, Mercuriadis said acquiring the rights to Bieber’s catalogue was one of the biggest deals the company has ever made.
“The impact of Justin Bieber on global culture over the last 14 years has truly been remarkable,” the Hipgnosis founder said. “Such is the power of his incredible catalogue that has almost 82 million monthly listeners and over 30 billion streams on Spotify alone.”