Hipgnosis Song Management acquires Justin Bieber song catalogue

24 January 2023 - Press release

Hipgnosis Song Management (‘Hipgnosis’ or the ‘Company’), which offers investors a pure-play exposure to songs and associated intellectual property rights, is pleased to announce the company’s acquisition of a song catalogue from superstar artist and songwriter Justin Bieber whose songs have been streamed over 32 billion times on Spotify alone where he has 82 million monthly listeners.

Hipgnosis has acquired Justin Bieber’s 100% interest in his Publishing Copyrights (including the Writer’s Share of Performance), Master Recordings and Neighboring Rights for Bieber’s entire back catalogue, comprising over 290 titles released before the 31st of December 2021.

The acquisition has been made on behalf of Hipgnosis Songs Capital, a partnership between Hipgnosis Song Management and funds managed by Blackstone.

Justin Bieber is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 150 million records worldwide. All of Bieber’s six official studio albums have been certified Platinum or multiplatinum by the RIAA and 33 platinum or multi-platinum singles globally. He has three singles – Baby, Sorry, and Despacito – which have earned Diamond certifications for US sales exceeding 10 million and a fourth in Love Yourself that is just about to achieve the same status. The youngest solo artist ever to have eight US #1 albums, a record previously held by Elvis Presley since 1965, Bieber has topped Billboard’s US ‘Hot 100’ with eightsinglesthroughout his career and proved the first artist in history to reach #1 on seven multi-metric Billboard charts, including ‘Hot 100,’ ‘Hot Country Songs,’ ‘Hot Dance/Electronic Songs,’ ‘Hot Latin Songs,’ ‘Hot R&B Songs,’ ‘Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs,’ and ‘Hot Rap Songs.’

Named by TIME as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, Bieber has been included on Forbes’ list of the top ten most powerful celebrities many times. Bieber was named the #1 artist on Billboard’s ‘Decade-End Social 50’ chart for the 2010s in 2020, Billboard’s ‘Greatest Pop Star of 2016,’ Billboard’s ‘Year-End Top Male Artist’ for 2016, and ranked 55th on the ‘Greatest of All Time Artists’ and 38th on the ‘Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Artists’ charts respectively.

The first and only artist in Spotify history to earn a record 12 Spotify Plaques recognizing songs exceeding 1 billion streams on the platform, Bieber is the first artist in history to chart new #1 singles in consecutive weeks on the US ‘Hot 100,’ Bieber holds the record for the most #1 debuts (10), the most #1 singles (13), and the most cumulative weeks at #1 on Billboard’s ‘Canadian Hot 100’ chart.

Merck Mercuriadis, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hipgnosis Song Management, said: “The impact of Justin Bieber on global culture over the last 14 years has truly been remarkable. At only 28 years of age, he is one of a handful of defining artists of the streaming era that has revitalized the entire music industry, taking a loyal and worldwide audience with him on a journey from teen phenomenon to culturally important artist. This acquisition ranks among the biggest deals ever made for an artist under the age of 70, such is the power of this incredible catalogue that has almost 82 million monthly listeners and over 30 billion streams on Spotify alone. Scooter Braun has helped him build a magnificent catalogue, and it’s a pleasure to welcome Justin and his incredible songs and recordings to the Hipgnosis family."

Scooter Braun, CEO of Hybe America and Justin Bieber’s manager of 15 years, said: “I want to thank Merck and his entire Hipgnosis team and all of our partners involved for working so hard to make this historic deal happen. When Justin made the decision to make a catalogue deal we quickly found the best partner to preserve and grow this amazing legacy was Merck and Hipgnosis. For over a decade now Justin Bieber has entertained us and moved us with some of the biggest songs in the world. I’m so proud of him and all those involved over the years in helping amass this incredible body of work. Justin is truly a once in a generation artist and that is reflected and acknowledged by the magnitude of this deal. For 15 years I have been grateful to witness this journey and today I am happy for all those involved. Justin’s greatness is just beginning.”

Justin Bieber was represented by Scooter Braun at Hybe America, David Bolno at NKSFB, Aaron Rosenberg and Audrey Benoualid at Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & Light LLP and Michael Rhodes at Cooley.

Hipgnosis Songs Capital was represented by William Leibowitz at William R. Leibowitz Law Group, Seth Traxler and Rory Wellever at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Robert Fowler & Lisa Ong at HW Fisher.