2021–2024: Valuation, Blackstone investment and acquisition
In January 2021, Jimmy Iovine sold his producer royalties to Hipgnosis, including 259 recordings and his movie production royalties for 8 Mile, which starred Eminem and 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin'.[40] Iovine said that proceeds generated from the purchase would fund a new high school in Los Angeles as part of the University of Southern California Iovine and Young Academy.[41] Hipgnosis also acquired the catalog of Lindsey Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac,[42] a 50% stake in the catalog of Neil Young,[43] all 145 of Shakira's songs,[44] and 43 songs produced by Bob Rock, a Canadian producer.[45] In March 2021, Hipgnosis acquired the catalog of songwriter Carole Bayer Sager.[46] In May 2021, the company acquired the song catalog of the Red Hot Chili Peppers (for its publishing business MoeBeToBlame Music) for a reported $140-$150 million.[47] Hipgnosis also acquired the catalog of songwriter Andrew Watt.[48] In August 2021, Hipgnosis acquired the catalogue of Christine McVie from Fleetwood Mac.[49] On August 10, 2020, Hipgnosis acquired all of Chris Cornell's catalog of song rights (241 songs)[50] including his band Soundgarden's catalog.[51] Hipgnosis' annual report was published in July 2021, valuing the catalogue at $2.2 billion.[52]
In October 2021, investment manager Blackstone Inc., and Hipgnosis Song Management announced a new $1bn partnership to invest in music rights and manage catalogs.[53] Separate from the London-listed Hipgnosis Songs Fund, the partnership, Hipgnosis Songs Assets, was created to co-invest in future catalog acquisitions along with Hipgnosis Songs Fund. Additionally, Blackstone took an ownership stake in investment adviser Hipgnosis Song Management with the intention of supporting the expansion of its infrastructure and business functions, including developing new song management expertise, technology, and data science capabilities.[54]
In May 2022, Hipgnosis acquired all of the Justin Timberlake catalog including the copyright, ownership, and financial interests of the writer's and publisher's share of public performance income. The worldwide administration rights to the compositions, subject to Timberlake's deal with Universal, expiring in 2025 were also acquired.[55] In July 2022, Hipgnosis signed an international sub-publishing deal with Peermusic. French performance rights society SACEM agreed to collect digital royalties for Hipgnosis in Europe.[56]
In January 2023, Hipgnosis Songs Capital acquired Justin Bieber's song catalogue[57] and all of David Foster's writer’s share of performance income for all of his songs.[58] In October 2023, Hipgnosis Songs Group CEO Kenny MacPherson was placed on leave due to a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault and battery by a former colleague, stemming from while he was at Chrysalis Music.[59]
