Justin Bieber has sold the rights to his entire back catalog, including mega hits Pardon and Baby, at Hipgnosis Song Management.
The songwriting investment company says it has reached an agreement with the Canadian pop singer for his share of all copyrights and publishing royalties from his master recordings.
The deal covers Bieber’s entire back catalog of more than 290 titles released before the end of 2021. Terms were not disclosed by Hipgnosis and the company declined to put a value on the deal.
Bieber joins a growing list of artists and songwriters, such as Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks and Shakira, to sell their old catalogs to recording giants and song management companies in recent years.
In a statement shared with CBC News, Hipgnosis founder and CEO Merck Mercuriadis said the Bieber deal was “one of the biggest deals ever for an artist under 70.”
“Such is the power of its incredible catalog which has nearly 82 million monthly listeners and over 30 billion streams on Spotify alone,” said Mercuriadis, from Middleton, Nova Scotia.
Recover old catalogs
The Hipgnosis Songs Fund has spent the past few years securing major deals with some of the world’s hottest artists, hoping to capitalize on new revenue streams for music, including its use on TikTok and other social media platforms.
Many of the company’s largest acquisitions have been made with Canadians.
In 2021, Hipgnosis purchased the royalty rights held by Winnipeg-born producer Bob Rock to some of Michael Buble’s and Metallica’s Christmas hits. Enter Sandmanand a 50% stake in over 1,000 songs by 77-year-old Neil Young.
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