Merck Mercuriadis: Last News

Shakira, Ed Sheeran, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young and more. The offer put forward by Concord was $1.25 per share (£1).Blackstone has already acquired the rights to songs by Justin Bieber and Justin Timberlake, and this current deal will see more than 65,000 more tracks added to its catalogue.As highlighted by Reuters, Blackstone has also invested in U.S.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The already-complicated battle over control of Hipgnosis Songs Fund grew even more so on Saturday, as the private equity firm Blackstone bid $1.5 billion to the troubled fund — which includes the rights to catalogs by Neil Young, Shakira, Blondie, Journey, Lindsey Buckingham and others — pushing aside Concord’s $1.4 offer made earlier in the week. Blackstone already owns two other elements of Hipgnosis — the investment fund Hipgnosis Songs Capital and the advisor Hipgnosis Song Management — and the move reflects founder Merck Mercuriadis’ determination to retain control of the company.

Sky News), with the brand owning the rights to music by Shakira, Ed Sheeran, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young and more.It also comes after the value of the portfolio dropped, and the company reportedly halted investor payouts “for the foreseeable future”.The report – carried out by its lead adviser Shot Tower – showed that the value had declined by at least a fifth on that reported by Hipgnosis in September 2023.The music fund – set up and launched by Chic legend Nile Rodgers and Merck Mercuriadis (former manager of Elton John and Beyoncé) – was mired by financial troubles last year. These included concerns around valuations, board and legal battles and a shareholder revolt against a catalogue sale deal.Last December, Hipgnosis was set to share its half-year results, but said it was delaying the publication of the results due to concerns that music catalogues and songs are not being valued high enough.The pause was set to last between mid-December and the end of March, and yesterday (March 4) it was confirmed that the pause would continue.As highlighted by Sky News, approximately 65 per cent of Hipgnosis’s royalties come as a result of passive publishing, performance and recorded music income streams.

Chic legend Nile Rodgers and Merck Mercuriadis – former manager of acts including Elton John and Beyoncé – and was set to share its half-year results today (December 19).However, it has confirmed that it will be delaying the publication of the results due to concerns that music catalogues and songs are not being valued high enough amid a sale.As reported by The Independent, the UK firm decided to sell just under 30 music catalogues to the sister fund, backed by investment giant Blackstone in September this year.The deal valued the assets at about $418million (£360million), however, this number was down by nearly a quarter compared to the valuation it was given back in March.It came as the company revealed it did not receive any better offers as interested parties “could not justify” a higher price, and also sold 20,000 “non-core” songs for about $23million (£20 million) – nearly a 15 per cent discount on a September valuation.Amid the potential sale, Hipgnosis – which spent $1billion (£720m) acquiring artists’ back catalogues in 2021 – stated that the valuation received from an independent valuer is “materially higher than the valuation implied by proposed and recent transactions in the sector”.As confirmed by the outlet, a spokesperson for Hipgnosis has said that the company has sought advice from its investment adviser, Hipgnosis Songs Management, which gave the board “concerns as to the valuation of the company’s assets in its interim results”.It was also reported that the fund launched a strategic review two months ago, which could potentially lead to the replacement of founder and chief executive Mercuriadis.The half-year results are now expected to be published by December 31.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Hipgnosis Songs Fund — the company that led the music-catalog gold rush of recent years by spending more than $2 billion for song assets by Neil Young, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and many others — is facing an uncertain future as some 83.2% of its investors voted Thursday that a new board make major structural changes to the overextended company. Investors also rejected a proposal by its leadership to shore up its finances by selling off around $440 million of its 65,000-song catalog to a sister fund backed by Blackstone.

Hipgnosis has confirmed that its much rumoured deal with Justin Bieber is now in the bag. Under the deal, worth a reported $200 million, Hipgnosis acquires all of the star’s existing song rights, as well as artist royalty and remuneration rights in relation to his recordings.If you’re interested in the technicalities of who did the deal and where the cash came from to fund it, the whole thing was negotiated by Hipgnosis Song Management on behalf of Hipgnosis Songs Capital, which is Hipgnosis’s partnership with investment outfit Blackstone.Although it’s an extensive deal – with Hipgnosis also securing the so called writer’s share of song income – the price tag is particularly impressive given that Bieber is still only 28 years old.Most of the previous mega-bucks rights acquisition deals have involved older musicians with much longer careers and therefore catalogues that contain plenty of songs with proven longevity in terms of popularity and income generation.Although, as Hipgnosis was keen to point out in its statement confirming the deal, Bieber has impressive stats to accompany the impressive price tag.

Karen Bliss Merck Mercuriadis, founder and CEO of Hipgnosis Songs, was the man of the hour — make that the day — Thursday at Canadian Music Week in Toronto, returning to his native country for three separate sessions. While one saw him presenting the Nile Rodgers Global Creators Award (named, of course, after the legendary Chic cofounder and his partner in Hipgnosis) to singer, songwriter and record producer James Fauntleroy and, virtually, to hip hop record producer Dion “No ID” Wilson and another was giving Public Enemy founder Chuck D the organization’s first annual Social Justice Honors Award, most notable was his featured keynote, at which he reinforced his company’s stated mission to change the dynamic of the music industry so that songwriters are on top.

Leonard Cohen is the latest artist whose song rights have been bought, after his estate reached a deal with the Hipgnosis Songs Fund for an undisclosed sum.According to Rolling Stone, the deal includes all 278 songs that Cohen wrote, including his most popular songs ‘Hallelujah’, ‘Suzanne’, ‘So Long, Marianne’, ‘First We Take Manhattan’ and more.The investment company obtained the “songwriter’s share” of 127 songs from Cohen’s Stranger Music catalogue, which covers the period of the inception of late musician’s career through to the year 2000; derivative works pushes the total to 211 songs.Hipgnosis also acquired the ownership of 100 per cent of the copyrights, “publisher’s share” and “songwriter’s share” of royalties of the latter part of his catalogue, spanning from 2001 to his death in 2016.“To now be the custodians and managers of Leonard Cohen’s incomparable songs is a wonderful yet very serious responsibility that we approach with excitement and fully understand the importance of,” Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis said in a statement.“Leonard wrote words and songs that have changed our lives, none more so obvious than ‘Hallelujah’ but there are so many more that we look forward to reminding the world of on a daily basis.

Hipgnosis has acquired an 80% stake in the recorded music royalties of country artist Kenny Chesney. The deal, which covers Chesney’s full catalogue, is the first that Hipgnosis has made since announcing a new partnership with investment firm Blackstone in October last year.“Kenny Chesney is one of the truly great American artists”, says Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorHipgnosis Song Management has acquired 80% of Kenny Chesney’s recorded music royalties, the company announced, covering his discography from his 1994 debut “In My Wildest Dreams” through 2017’s “Live in No Shoes Nation.” The catalog includes 22 albums, 15 of which are certified platinum. The deal is the first acquisition made by Hipgnosis Song Management since its recently announced partnership with Blackstone to acquire music rights and manage catalogs.Terms of the deal were not announced.Chesney is one of the top-selling country performers — and one of the top-grossing live artists — of the past 25 years, with more than 30 million albums sold worldwide.

The good old Hipgnosis Songs Fund has acquired the catalogue of songwriter Carole Bayer Sager because, well, why the hell not? After all, the deal covers classic songs like ‘A Groovy Kind Of Love’, ‘Nobody Does It Better’ and ‘That’s What Friends Are For’.“This is one of the most important deals we have ever made”, says Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis. “Carole’s iconic songs have been making the world go around for more than 55 years.

according to the BBC, has been buying up rights to mega songs for the past three years.The company spent over $1 billion gobbling up rights to music that also includes LA Reid’s song catalog (which has shares in Boyz II Men’s “End Of The Road”, Whitney Houston’s “I’m Your Baby Tonight” and Bobby Brown’s “Don’t Be Cruel”), as well as music by Blondie, Barry Manilow and Mark Ronson.Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis claims the music he’s bought is “more valuable than gold or oil” as “ their revenue isn’t affected by fluctuations in the economy” he tells the BBC.“These great, proven songs are very predictable and reliable in their income streams.

Wu-Tang Clan‘s RZA has sold 50% of his songwriting and production credits in a new deal.The deal, made with Hipgnosis Songs, sees the company acquire half of RZA’s copyright and writing shares.The rapper and producer has produced almost all of Wu-Tang Clan’s albums, along with multiple solo albums and songs by the band’s members.Speaking of the deal, RZA said: “I wear various hats in my artistic expressions but the one that has been so deeply reflective of my life’s journey is my songwriting.

Hipgnosis Songs has acquired a music catalog from Richie Sambora.