Steph Deschamps / January 25, 2023
Canadian singer Justin Bieber has sold the rights to his music catalog to Hipgnosis for $200 million, following a long list of artists, such as Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen, who have given up their repertoire, the management company and a source close to the case said.
Hipgnosis has acquired Justin Bieber's entire share of his publishing rights (including the author's share of the performance), master recordings and related rights for his entire catalog," announced Hipgnosis, the music rights management company that already owns the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Hipgnosis did not communicate an amount.
The Wall Street Journal had mentioned a sum of about 200 million dollars in December, confirmed Tuesday to AFP by a source close to the case. The repertoire includes more than 290 titles released before December 31, 2021, including his biggest hits "Baby", "Sorry" and "Love Yourself".
This transaction is the latest episode in a long series of buyouts of copyrights or publishing rights of dead or living artists' catalogs, but considered timeless, which have become valuable assets especially with the streaming revolution.
The buyout came as part of Hipgnosis' partnership with financial management firm Blackstone, which had announced in late 2021 that it would contribute $1 billion to help Hipgnosis continue to buy into music.