Canadian singer Justin Bieber has sold the rights to his music catalog for $200 million, the latest in a long list of artists such as Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.
Hypgnosis, a British company specializing in the management of music funds, adds the 28-year-old star to its basket, already filled with artists such as Leonard Cohen and his famous Hallelujah, Shakira or the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
“Hypgnosis has acquired 100% of Justin Bieber’s publishing rights (including an author’s performance share), master recordings and neighboring rights to his entire catalog,” the company announced, without specifying the amount of the transaction.
More than 290 titles
The collection includes more than 290 tracks released before December 31, 2021, including his biggest hits “Baby,” “Sorry” and “Love Yourself,” and Hypgnosis will now own the rights to the songs as they are released.
The Wall Street Journal quoted about $200 million in December, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to AFP on Tuesday. According to Variety, Universal will continue to manage the singer’s catalog, six of whose albums have been certified platinum (one million sold) or multi-platinum (multi-millions), from “My World 2.0” in 2010 to “Justice” in 2021.
“Justin Bieber’s impact on global culture over the past 14 years has been extraordinary,” said Elton John’s former manager and CEO Merck Mercuriadis. Justin Bieber has over 30 billion streams on Spotify.
Hypgnosis made the move thanks to funding from fund management firm Blackstone, which has pledged to bring Hypgnosis a billion dollars for these investments by the end of 2021.
TikTok, Roblox
Justin Bieber is the latest and one of the youngest to sell his catalog, following a well-established trend by now. With the streaming revolution, the rights to songs by artists who are dead or alive but considered timeless have become valuable assets.
Beyond music streaming, companies like Hypgnosis are monetizing their catalog on new platforms like TikTok or Roblox.
The most important transactions of the last two years include the sale of catalogs of Bob Dylan, David Bowie or Bruce Springsteen, for which Sony put 550 million dollars on the table. Before them, people like Tina Turner, Neil Young or the Red Hot Chili Peppers have already taken such steps.
For Justin Bieber, the sale comes as he is going through a tough 2022 due to health issues. He had to cancel part of his tour in June after the rare Ramsay Hunt syndrome paralyzed one side of his face. After returning to the stage, he announced his retirement again in September. “I’ll be fine, but I need time to rest and recover,” he said in September.
A practice that is not unanimous
The list isn’t unanimous, given the wave of sales and speculation fueled by companies giving up rights. Taylor Swift, one of America’s most popular singers, has found enormous success with new versions of her old albums, which she re-recorded to control the rights.
A lively controversy pitted him against artist Scooter Braun, who got his hands on his talent by buying the Big Machine Records label, then selling them to another company. Brown is also the manager of Justin Bieber, whom he represented in his dealings with Hypgnosis.
This article was published automatically. Sources: ats / afp