Justin Bieber, one of the biggest music stars of his generation, recently closed a deal to sell his publishing and artist royalties to Hipgnosis Songs Capital for an estimated $200 million. This is the biggest rights sale for any artist to date and the biggest acquisition for Hipgnosis.
This deal follows a wave of catalog sales in 2021 by various other artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Justin Timberlake, Leonard Cohen, Nile Rodgers, Kenny Chesney, Neil Young, and Nelly Furtado. Other artists, such as Sting, David Bowie’s estate, Phil Collins, Future, Frank Zappa, and Neil Diamond have since sold some of their rights to Hipgnosis.
Since Bieber's 2009 debut album, My World, he has charted eight No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart and 26 top 10s on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. His albums have generated 28 million equivalent album units in the U.S., and his collected songs have generated 16.6 billion on-demand official streams in the U.S.
Commenting on the deal, Hipgnosis CEO Merck Mercuriadis said, “The impact of Justin Bieber on global culture over the last 14 years has truly been remarkable.” Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun added, “Justin is truly a once in a generation artist and that is reflected and acknowledged by the magnitude of this deal.”
Justin Bieber's $200 million rights sale to Hipgnosis Songs Capital is the biggest deal of its kind for any artist of his generation. It is a testament to Bieber's success and the impact he has had on global culture over the last 14 years. It is also a significant milestone in Hipgnosis' history, as it is the largest acquisition they have made to date.