Justin Bieber has sold its publishing and recorded music rights to Hipgnosis Songs Capital, marking another successful music catalog acquisition.
The deal, announced Jan. 24, covers Bieber’s entire back catalog — 290 songs released by Dec. 31, 2021. Hipgnosis Songs Capital picked up Bieber’s copyrights (including his writer’s share), the lucrative rights to his master recordings, and even a more concrete royalty known as neighboring rights (every time a song is performed publicly – such as in a coffee shop – “neighboring rights” are paid to the owner of the recording ).
Hipgnosis did not reveal exact financial details of the sale, but The Wall Street Journal first reported the deal was valued at around $200 million last month. Bieber joins a list of more contemporary high-profile artists such as Justin Timberlake (who also sold to Hipgnosis) and Ryan Tedder in selling their catalogs, but the trend has been much more prevalent among legacy artists, such as Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, whose catalogs are often seen as a safe bet by investors given they’ve proven themselves over decades and may not be losing as much radio and streaming revenue .
Yet once the deal was done, Hipgnosis secured Bieber’s part in some of the biggest hits of a musical era, including “Baby,” “What Do You Mean,” “Sorry” and “Love Yourself.” With over 150 million records sold, Bieber is one of the best-selling artists of all time. The buying boom of the past few years appears to have died down in 2022, but an acquisition the size of Bieber’s catalog proves there are still deals to be done in the music acquisition space.
In a statement, longtime Bieber manager Scooter Braun said: “When Justin made the decision to enter into a catalog deal, we quickly found the best partner to preserve and grow this incredible legacy was Merck. [Mercuriadis] and Hipgnosis. For over a decade now, Justin Bieber has entertained and moved us with some of the greatest songs in the world. I’m so proud of him and everyone who has contributed over the years to amassing this amazing body of work. Justin is truly a once in a generation artist and that is reflected and acknowledged by the magnitude of this deal.
Hipgnosis and its founder Merck Mercuriadis sealed the deal with Bieber through his billion-dollar venture with private investment giant Blackstone. Mercuriadis has been a major figure in the music acquisition trend, delivering unprecedented deals for songwriter and producer catalogs and ultimately securing deals with recording artists including Neil Young and the Red Hot. Chilli Peppers.
Mercuriadis added: “Justin Bieber’s impact on global culture over the past 14 years has truly been remarkable. At just 28 years old, he is one of a handful of defining artists in the streaming era who have revitalized the entire music industry, taking a loyal, global audience with it on a journey from teenage phenom to culturally significant artist. The acquisition ranks among the biggest deals ever for an artist under 70. , such is the power of this incredible catalog which has nearly 82 million monthly listeners and more than 30 billion streams on Spotify alone.
