Latest news with #RecognitionMusicGroup
Mint
23-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Company with royalties for pop music catalogues, including Justin Bieber, Shakira is selling $372 million worth of bonds
Recognition Music Group, the company that holds publishing and recording rights of over 47,000 compositions from artists such as Justin Bieber, Journey, Shakira, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is selling $372 million worth of bonds, backed by its royalties, according to a Bloomberg report. Backed by Blackstone Incorporated, the company was known as Hipgnosis, before rebranding in March 2025. Around 76 per cent of its catalogue portfolio consists of music released over a decade ago, the report said, citing information from a report by the Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Recognition Music Group is selling $372 million worth of bonds, backed by its royalties. As part of the proposed bond sale, it also plans to contribute more music assets, independently valued at $340.8 million. That would bring the total valuation of the collateral being put up to about $2.95 billion, based on expected asset cash flows. Proceeds from the sale would be used to repay existing debt, help fund reserves and transaction costs, as well as for other general corporate purposes, according to Kroll, which has assigned a preliminary grade of A to the deal's A-2 class. In recent years, the growing popularity of streaming services has helped bolster royalty cashflows, supporting exotic bonds tied to music assets. Streaming revenue from recorded music swelled to $20.4 billion in 2024, from about $1.8 billion a decade ago, Kroll notes, citing the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's 2025 Global Music Report. London-headquartered Recognition has been tapping the song-backed debt market for some time, including as recently as the end of last year, when it sold $1.47 billion of notes. Its inaugural music royalty ABS was in 2022, when it sold $221.65 million of debt. The business was founded in 2018 by long-time music industry executive Merck Mercuriadis to buy song rights and was later acquired by Blackstone Inc. affiliates in 2021. Mercuriadis had spent decades managing artists like Elton John and Beyonce before founding Hipgnosis. Barclays Plc is acting as lead bookrunner on Recognition's latest proposed music royalty ABS. The rights in Recognition's music catalog are administered by several organizations, including Sony Music Publishing, Kobalt and Universal Music Publishing Group. Music royalty ABS volume so far this year is around $1.7 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. (With inputs from Bloomberg)
Bloomberg
22-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Recognition Music Group to Sell Bonds Backed by Justin Bieber, Shakira Royalties
Recognition Music Group, which manages a broad catalog of popular music, is selling $372 million of bonds backed by royalties from the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Journey, Justin Bieber, and Shakira. The Blackstone Inc. -backed business, which operated as Hipgnosis until March this year, plans to sell bonds secured by publishing and recording rights from more than 47,000 compositions and recordings, according to a Kroll Bond Rating Agency report. More than 76% of the music was released over a decade ago.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sony Music Publishing Acquires Hipgnosis Songs Group
Sony Music Publishing has acquired Recognition Music Group's publishing and administration company Hipgnosis Songs Group, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. The acquisition comes five years after Recognition Music Group — which used to be known as Hipgnosis Songs Fund until the company rebranded three months ago — purchased music publisher Big Deal Music in 2020, rebranding that company as Hipgnosis Songs Group shortly after. Hipgnosis Songs has stakes in hits like Alex Warren's 'Ordinary,' and Sabrina Carpenter's 'Espresso' and 'Bed Chem' among others. The publishing company is the only asset Sony acquired from Recognition. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Boy George & Culture Club' Review: An Affectionate Look at the '80s Band and Its Flamboyant Frontman That Entertains but Treads Too Carefully Trump's Trade War Will Loom Large Over the Banff World Media Fest HBO's 'Harry Potter' Casts 9 More Roles, Including Draco Malfoy Recognition Music was originally founded by music executive Merck Mercuriadis, with Mercuriadis leaving last year after private equity company Blackstone purchased the company. Recognition had been a major driver in the music acquisition boom of the past six years, with the company buying up catalogs from superstars like Justin Bieber, Neil Young, Mark Ronson, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Shakira among others. Those were not part of the Sony acquisition, and Recognition still owns those catalogs. The news was first reported by Billboard. In an email addressed to Hipgnosis's songwriters, composers and clients and obtained by THR, Sony said it was acquiring Hipgnosis Songs Group 'effective immediately,' and that 'over the next few months, we will be transitioning the company to SMP's services and systems.' 'With a unique roster of contemporary songwriters and timeless classics, HSG aligns with SMP's mission to elevate and support the work of the world's most impactful songwriters, and we are honored to represent you and your songs,' Sony wrote. As the transition begins, writers' royalty payments will continue to be administered through Hipgnosis for now, Sony said. 'We look forward to working with you in this next chapter,' Sony said. Read the full email below: Dear Hipgnosis Songs Group Songwriters, Composers and Clients:On behalf of Sony Music Publishing ('SMP'), we are pleased to inform you that Sony Music Publishing has entered into an agreement with Recognition Music Group ('RMG') to acquire its subsidiary Hipgnosis Songs Group ('HSG'), effective immediately. With this agreement, Sony Music Publishing now owns and administers the Hipgnosis Songs Group catalog, serving as the full-service publisher for its clients and roster of songwriters globally. With a unique roster of contemporary songwriters and timeless classics, HSG aligns with SMP's mission to elevate and support the work of the world's most impactful songwriters, and we are honored to represent you and your the next few months, we will be transitioning the company to SMP's services and systems. We are working closely with HSG to ensure that all clients will receive the high level of service that you have come to expect. No further action is required from you at this the meantime, your current HSG team remains available to address questions or creative inquiries. You can also reach HSG at HSGcreativeteam@ For the time being, your royalty payments will continue to be processed and distributed through HSG's system and your current account access remains unchanged. We will reach out to you directly with important transition updates as they more information, you may contact our team by emailing SMP_HSGsupport@ or by calling our royalty hotline at 615-726-8326. Additional songwriter resources can also be found at you. We look forward to working with you in this next Sony Music Publishing Team Best of The Hollywood Reporter Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Hollywood's Highest-Profile Harris Endorsements: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and More Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
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.
RTÉ News
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Why we're tuning in to music biopics
Opinion: For audiences there is rarely something new to be found in the biopic, but there is comfort and nostalgia in the familiarity We have recently passed the peak of a decade in which the Marvel Cinematic Universe has dominated film and much of big-budget television. It has been replaced by a growing trend in recent years – the music biopic. But how original is it for film studios and major streamers to flick through their Spotify playlists and see which artist is next for the biopic treatment? Are the biopics providing good film-making and storytelling, or is the trend merely symptomatic of a wider foot-tapping escapism entertainment? The music biopic genre is undeniably popular and audiences and Hollywood both agree. Singers from Amy Winehouse to Elvis to Bob Dylan, and Maria Callas have all received the big-screen treatment of late. Rami Malek won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Freddy Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), the Queen biopic, though Timothée Chalamet may have been overlooked as Best Actor as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown at the 2025 Oscars (pipped by an unbeatable Adrian Brody in The Brutalist). Audiences are looking to these movies in the wake of super-hero-movie fatigue as well as reconnecting with the songs, music, and personalities of their favourite personal playlists. With income directly derived from music sales no longer the primary stream for artists, the major acts of recent decades are looking at new ways of securing their legacy, and their bank balance. Selling the rights to entire back catalogues has proved lucrative. Universal Music Group paid a reported $400 million to acquire Bob Dylan's back catalogue in 2020. Stevie Nicks struck a similar deal for over $100 million also in 2020. Today, Recognition Music Group (formerly Hipgnosis) is one of the largest music rights management companies in the world, with a portfolio of tens of thousands of tracks by hundreds of artists on their books. The exposure through a major film biopic, aided with the attraction of a star actor is further good business for any act. From Searchlight, The official trailer for A Complete Unknown Walk The Line (2005), the Johnny Cash biopic directed by James Mangold, revitalised the modern obsession with the music biopic. Joaquin Phoenix and Reece Witherspoon led the cast as Johnny Cash and June Carter with award-winning performances that didn't romanticise the story of Cash and his rise to global fame and inevitable self-destruction, but rather focused on the flawed genius of the singer and his relationship with Carter. The story of Elton John is told in 2019's Rocketman, and through a young Reginald Dwight before he becomes Elton John. Rocketman is less a narrative-led drama film than a stage-busting musical on film, where the songs tell the story and pick-up on themes and stages of John's life as they occur in the film, such as I'm Still Standing when the singer emerges from addiction rehab. Directed by Pablo Larraín and written by Steven Knight, Angelina Jolie starred in in one of the arguably under-appreciated recent music biopics, in the role of opera singer Maria Callas. Maria (2024), depicts the singer in a Paris apartment in the final days before her death and where she traces her life and memories through a series of pill-induced flashbacks/hallucinations. The grand narrative of Callas's life sweeps us from a childhood under Nazi-occupation to later grand opera houses, with Jolie is a career-defining performance. From RTÉ Radio 1's Arena, a look at the life and all-too-short career of Maria Callas Bob Marley: One Love (2024) starring Kinsgley Ben-Adir as Bob Marley, proved less popular with critics (slating it as a standard 'biopic-by-numbers' showing little beyond the popular image of Marley) but still drew solid box-office and reaction from audiences. What makes these music movies so popular? For audiences there is rarely something new to be found in the biopic, but there is comfort in that familiarity and undoubtedly a nostalgic fandom for devotees of their favourite act. We come for the music and songs as much as for the story. For the lead actor there is also a major role that allows them to grasp and embody the famous mannerisms and voice of a well-known singer, a formula that Hollywood and the Academy loves come award-season. The music biopic genre is also guilty of its clichés. The character of the sinister artist manager and music executive, the kind who greedily chomps cigars side-stage with dollar-signs in their eyes as their musical prodigé expends their talent to their adoring fans is an over-worn feature (see: Tom Hanks as Colonol Tom in Elvis). Elvis (2023) starring Austin Butler, is visually excellent in the familiar Baz Luhrmann-style, dripping in carnival-esque romance that sees Elvis fall between the glamour and tragedy of earlier Luhrmann movies, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby. From Sony Pictures, The trailer for Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story The formula of the music biopic has such a recognisable trajectory that it bore its own parody film. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) spoofs the genre in a satirical send up of the 'rags-to-microphone' stories of singers such as Johnny Cash to Ray Charles. The popularity of the music-to-film biopic shows no sign of abating. The recent A Complete Unknown told the story of wayfaring Bob Dylan who arrives to the hospital bedside of his folk music hero, Woody Guthrie, alongside a priestly Pete Seeger, brilliantly played by Ed Norton. Based on book by Elijah Wald, Dylan Goes Electric!, the film depicts Dylan's rise to fame amidst a battle for folk music from the older keepers of the tradition. Culminating at the famous Newport Festival of 1965 when Dylan plugged in and shocked folk audiences, the performances of Chalamet, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez and Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo (based on Suze Rotolo, Dylan's real girlfriend at the time) are the selling point of the movie, producing a captivating love-triangle story to the soundtrack of Dylan's greatest counter-culture hits. From Rotten Tomatoes, The best music biopics Already in production are biopics of Bruce Springsteen, Deliver Me From Nowhere, starring Jeremy Allen White as The Boss and Stephen Graham as Springsteen's father. The biopic of Ronnie Spector will also be eagerly awaited, based on her autobiography, Be My Baby, with Zendaya cast in the lead role. What is surely to create new levels of fandom crossover will be the four-part movie biopic of The Beatles, scheduled for a 2028 release. Directed by Sam Mendes, each Beatle will receive their own film, creating a multi-layered story of Beatlemania. Irish interest will also lie with Barry Keoghan starring as Ringo Star and with Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney. We may know the music and remember the hits of the musical stars on screen, but audiences show no sign of tuning out of the rise of the music biopic.
