Latest news with #Hipgnosis
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Music Industry Moves: Sony Music Publishing Acquires Hipgnosis Songs Group
Sony Music Publishing will take ownership of Hipgnosis Songs Group, Variety has confirmed. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal includes songs from Sabrina Carpenter, Blake Mills, My Morning Jacket, Alex Warren, St. Vincent, Kali Uchis and more, with Sony Music Publishing taking over Hipgnosis Songs' publishing and third-party administration businesses. This news was first reported by acquisition comes on the heels of Hipgnosis rebranding to Recognition Music Group in March, which folded the Hipgnosis Songs Fund and Hipgnosis Songs Assets into the new group. More from Variety Music Industry Moves: HarbourView Acquires Royalty Rights From Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber Producer Rodney 'Darkchild' Jerkins Lenny Tavárez, Sony Music Publishing and More Recognized at 2025 SESAC Latina Music Awards: Complete Winners List Music Industry Moves: Kesha Launches New Community Platform Smash In 2024, Hipgnosis struck two enormous deals: the sale of the Hipgnosis Songs Fund to financial behemoth Blackstone for $1.6 billion, after which founder Merck Mercuriadis exited and Blackstone took the then-publicly traded company private. The second was Hipgnosis' issuance of $1.47 billion in bonds backed by royalties of music from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bon Jovi, 50 Cent and year 'marked a pivotal transition for the company with the Hipgnosis entities coming under common ownership and the completion of a landmark $1.47 billion financing – demonstrating strong investor conviction in the asset class,' Qasim Abbas, head of tactical opportunities international for Blackstone, said at the Variety reported last year, Hipgnosis helped drive up the price of music catalogs through its purchases, paying top dollar to a large number of top producers and songwriters for their work. The market then followed suit, driving up the value of catalogs enormously — Hipgnosis paid a reported $100 million for half of Neil Young's songs catalog. In separate deals Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen reportedly were paid as much as four to six times that — but Hipgnosis grew overextended as investors questioned the company's ability to exploit the catalogs it had Music Publishing is the largest such company in the world, with 6.63 million songs in its catalog as of March 31, according to the most recent available data. + HarbourView, the content-focused investment firm founded in 2021, has announced $500 million in debt financing via the financial conglomerate KKR. Last year, the two companies struck a similar deal, also for $500 million.'This additional capital from KKR will help us accelerate our strategy to align with where the media, sports and entertainment markets are headed,' HarbourView Founder and CEO Sherrese Clarke said in a year, it was announced HarbourView would be financing a Queen Latifah biopic. Earlier this year, it purchased the rights to T-Pain's catalog, along with certain assets from Grammy-winning producer Rodney Jerkins. The company's catalog includes music from Brad Paisley, Justin Bieber, Olivia Rodrigo and Cardi B and hits like Pat Benatar's 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' and Nelly's 'Hot in Herre,' the latter as part of a $50 million deal.'In the industrialized revolution, we're going from horse and buggy into motorized cars,' Clarke told Variety's 'Strictly Business' podcast last year. + Cooking Vinyl, home to Billy Bragg, Roger Waters, the Jesus and Mary Chain and many more iconic artists from the UK and beyond, is being acquired by the U.S.-based Exceleration Music, the companies have has struck deals with numerous companies including its acquisition of Redeye in 2023, the acquisition of Kill Rock Stars and a 'financial alliance' with Mom+Pop Music in 2022 and acquiring Bloodshot Records in 2021, among others. One of the company's earliest deals was with Chicago-based blues stalwart Alligator Records in was founded in 2021 by former Concord Music Group CEO Glenn Barros along with Amy Dietz, John Burk, Charles Caldas and Dave Hansen with 'substantial investment capital,' according to Music Business Worldwide.'It's great to see the music industry being embraced by the investment world. Not so long ago, most investors thought this industry was finished,' Barros said at the time. 'But this influx of capital has in many ways turned music into a commodity to be traded like any other financial asset.' Best of Variety 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Animated Program — Can Netflix Score Big With 'Arcane,' 'Devil May Cry' and the Final Season of 'Big Mouth?' Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
New York Post
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Heartbreaking reason Justin Bieber was forced to sell music catalog for $200M: doc
He was in a 'Sorry' state of affairs. Justin Bieber sold his music catalog for $200 million in December 2022 because he was on the verge of 'financial collapse,' according to a new documentary. 'TMZ Investigates: What Happened to Justin Bieber,' which is now available on Hulu, digs into the 31-year-old singer's money troubles, alleging that he was in debt from pulling out of his 'Justice' World Tour in 2022. Advertisement 4 Justin Bieber sold his music catalog to Hipgnosis for $200 million in December 2022. GC Images This, despite the fact that the 'Peaches' crooner has reportedly made somewhere between $500 million and $1 billion in his career. TMZ executive producer Harry Levin claims that Bieber 'had to sell his music catalog because he was broke.' Advertisement 'I was on a call with multiple people — Justin's side acknowledges that in 2022, he was on the verge of… the words were 'financial collapse.' And that's why he had to sell his catalog,' Levin alleges in the documentary. Levin also claimed that when Bieber's then-manager, Scooter Braun, got wind of the sale, he encouraged the singer to wait until January 2023 to make the sale in order to get a tax break. 'Justin said, 'I gotta sell it now.' And he sold it in December. That's how broke he was,' Levin claims. 4 TMZ executive producer Harry Levin claims that Bieber 'had to sell his music catalog because he was broke.' Getty Images for dcp Advertisement Also in the doc, TMZ executive producer Don Nash claims that Bieber would have made $90 million had he finished his Justice World Tour, which he canceled in September 2022 because he wanted to prioritize his health. The TMZ doc comes one month after The Hollywood Reporter published a story also alleging that Bieber had been saddled with millions of dollars in debt after canceling the tour. Merck Mercuriadis — founder of Hipgnosis, which bought Bieber's catalog — told the Hollywood Reporter, 'With the money up front, you're free to plan in a way where you don't have to be beholden to anyone else. You don't necessarily have to go on tour or make another record, if that's not how you want to spend the next few years. You can then afford to take some risks on yourself. 4 Justin Bieber's longtime manager Scooter Braun reportedly advised the singer to wait until January 2023 to sell his catalog to get a tax break. Getty Images for YouTube Originals Advertisement 4 Justin Bieber hasn't released a new studio album since 2021's 'Justice.' GC Images 'For Justin, I think that was the motivation: He had ill health and was at a time in his life where he was married and very in love and contemplating family,' he continued. 'Making the deal gave him the freedom to focus on that and not have to be on the treadmill he'd been on for almost 15 years.' Meanwhile, Bieber has also sought to dispel rumors about him and Sean 'Diddy' Combs during the music mogul's sex trafficking trial as one of his former protégés. 'Although Justin is not among Sean Combs' victims, there are individuals who were genuinely harmed by him,' reps for Bieber told People in a statement Thursday night. 'Shifting focus away from this reality detracts from the justice these victims rightfully deserve.'
Express Tribune
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Justin Bieber reportedly sold $200 million music catalogue due to 2022 financial collapse fears
Justin Bieber's $200 million sale of his music catalogue to Hipgnosis, now called Recognition Music Group, was reportedly driven by fears of a looming 'financial collapse,' according to a new TMZ report featured in the Hulu special What Happened to Justin Bieber?. TMZ's Harvey Levin revealed that during a call involving several individuals, Bieber's camp acknowledged serious financial concerns. 'Justin's side acknowledges that in 2022 he was on the verge of, and the words were, 'financial collapse,'' Levin stated. 'That's why he had to sell his catalog.' Despite initial resistance from manager Scooter Braun, the deal went ahead in January 2023. It included publishing and recorded catalogue rights covering Bieber's entire back catalogue up to the end of 2021. Universal Music Group maintained ownership of the master recordings. Braun, who no longer manages Bieber and has since retired from music management, expressed optimism at the time: '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.' Selling catalogues has become a strategic move for many top artists amid industry shifts and financial uncertainties. Recognition Music Group has also acquired works from artists like Tom DeLonge, Mark Ronson and Justin Timberlake. Others making similar moves include Bruce Springsteen, Future, Bob Dylan, Iggy Azalea and Zach Bryan.
The Independent
28-02-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Part of claim against Barry Manilow to be paused in England, judge rules
Part of a claim against Barry Manilow over unpaid royalties and a bonus to the singer should be paused in England while similar legal action in the US is ongoing, a High Court judge has ruled. Hipgnosis Songs Fund has had an agreement with Manilow since 2020 where the US singer would provide his worldwide earnings in return for a 1.5 million dollar (£1.19 million) bonus if Hipgnosis met two performance targets. The first was that the cash income from its share of the assets increased by 10% year-on-year for three years, after which the first half of the bonus would be paid. The second half would be paid if this target was hit for a fourth year running. Manilow claims these conditions have been met and is seeking the money through the courts in Los Angeles. Hipgnosis said it has not met these targets and, therefore, does not need to pay out. The company is bringing legal action at the High Court in London saying Manilow had not paid royalties he owed and wanted the other part of the claim, referred to as the purchase price claim, to be heard in England as well. But Mr Justice Marcus Smith ruled on Thursday that the English proceedings for the purchase price should be paused while the part of the claim relating to royalties can continue. In a written judgment he said this was 'the appropriate order to make', adding: 'I conclude that the defendant is entitled to a stay as of right, but if I am wrong on this, I consider that this court should not exercise any jurisdiction which it may have.' Lawyers at a previous hearing at the High Court each claimed that the opposing side was trying to impede the other by pushing for alternative jurisdictions. Edmund Cullen KC, for Hipgnosis, described the US legal action as a 'tactical measure' while Andrew Sutcliffe KC, for Manilow, said having the full case heard in London would 'spike the guns' of his client.
Reuters
27-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Hipgnosis' UK lawsuit against Barry Manilow over $1.5 mln cannot proceed, court rules
LONDON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Music investor Hipgnosis Songs Fund cannot sue singer Barry Manilow in Britain in a dispute about a $1.5 million bonus payment, London's High Court ruled on Thursday, but the fund can continue its case for some allegedly unpaid royalties. Hipgnosis last year brought a lawsuit in London against Manilow, 81, who just over two weeks later brought a separate case against Hipgnosis in Los Angeles, California. The dispute centres on a $7.5 million deal signed in 2020 for Hipgnosis to buy the rights to Manilow's music catalogue, which includes hits such as "Mandy" and "Copacabana". Under the agreement, Manilow was entitled to a further $750,000 if the revenue Hipgnosis received increased by 10% year-on-year for the first three years, with another $750,000 due if the increase was sustained over four years. Hipgnosis sought a ruling in London that Manilow was not entitled to the $1.5 million and also for the payment of royalties paid by Sony Records to Manilow or his companies. Manilow, however, argued the dispute over the $1.5 million should be heard in California, as his agreement with Hipgnosis allowed him to choose to sue in the U.S. about that issue. Judge Marcus Smith ruled on Thursday that Hipgnosis and Manilow's deal gave Manilow the choice whether to sue in Britain or the U.S. about the additional $1.5 million. He put Hipgnosis' case about the additional payments on hold, but allowed the parts of its lawsuit about allegedly unpaid royalties to continue in London. Hipgnosis said the case concerned "a routine commercial matter concerning the interpretation of certain clauses in a contract regarding bonus payments". A spokesperson said: "While we regret that this couldn't be resolved directly between the parties, we continue to hold Barry and his music in the highest possible regard, and we are confident that this can be resolved in a fair and reasonable way." Manilow was not available for comment. Hipgnosis, which owns the rights to music by artists such as Shakira and Red Hot Chili Peppers, was co-founded by music industry veteran Merck Mercuriadis, who has managed Elton John and Beyonce, and Chic's Nile Rodgers. It was bought by Blackstone, the world's largest private equity firm, for nearly $1.6 billion last year.
