Justin Bieber sells music rights to Hipgnosis for over $200 Million

Justin Bieber has officially sold the rights to his music to Hipgnosis Songs Capital for over $200m.

As expected, Justin Bieber sells his music rights to Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Songs Capital for more than $200 million. The announcement, which had been widely rumored last month following weeks of speculation, was formally revealed by the corporation. Hipgnosis will now get paid any time a Justin Bieber song is streamed or utilized in a movie, TV show, or other media.

The deal covers Justin’s entire back catalog, which is made up of about 290 songs that he has released up through the end of 2021 to Hipgnosis. The original master recordings of his songs will also belong to the firm. The specifics of the deal have not been made public by Hipgnosis, although a source has estimated that it is worth $200 million.

Stating his support over this deal, Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun thanked the entire Hipgnosis team and said,

“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. 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.”

To add to this, Merck Mercuriadis, founder and CEO of Hipgnosis Song Management, said,

“The impact of Justin Bieber on global culture over the last 14 years has truly been remarkable. This acquisition ranks among the biggest deals ever made for an artist under the age of 70, such is the power of this incredible catalog that has almost 82 million monthly listeners and over 30 billion streams on Spotify alone. Scooter Braun has helped him build a magnificent catalog, and it’s a pleasure to welcome Justin and his incredible songs and recordings to the Hipgnosis family.”

The deal arrives during a quiet time for the singer, just weeks after he postponed the remaining dates for his ‘Justice’ tour until an unspecified time. The tour’s debut date was originally set for 2020, but it has been repeatedly postponed or delayed—first because of the pandemic, and most recently because of his battle with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a rare virus that in his instance led to facial paralysis.

Additionally, it coincides with a broader slowdown in the once-hot catalog market, which has lost appeal as a result of rising asking prices, interest rates, and capital gains taxes.

While featuring some of his many successes from the previous 15 or so years, Justin Bieber’s library lacks the same level of established quality as more seasoned catalogs like Genesis and Phil Collins, whose libraries were sold for an estimated $300 million earlier this year. The Bieber deal will be the biggest music rights purchase for Hipgnosis to date, according to the Journal. Earlier this year, the company acquired the music rights of Justin Timberlake, whose works are a few years older than Bieber’s, in a deal with over $100 million.  Additionally, Leonard Cohen’s extensive discography, which has many timeless songs that are older than 50 years, was also bought by Hipgnosis.

Image Credit: Lou Stejskal via Flickr | License: Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)