Hipgnosis Songs Capital recently purchased Justin Bieber’s music rights.
According to the announcement and Billboard, the company spent approximately $200 million to distribute over 290 songs by December 31, 2021, including songs from his most recent album, “Justice.”
The upcoming sale, which was widely publicized only last month, had been speculated about for several weeks.
The writing and recorded music catalog shares of the vocalist of “One Less Lonely Girl” are included in the transaction.
Justin sold his publication copyrights, which included the writer’s performance share, master recordings, and neighboring rights, for his entire back catalog.
According to the site, the transaction is the largest rights sale for a musician of Justin Bieber’s generation and even Hipgnosis’ largest purchase to date.
Universal Music, Justin Bieber’s long-standing record label, will continue to manage the rights to his songs, according to Variety.
However, the sale was only worth half of what experts who were aware of the circulating rumors in November and December predicted. Merck Mercuriadis, the company’s founder and CEO, was said to have paid $500 million for Justin’s rights.
In response to the announcement, Hipgnosis’ founder stated in a statement:
“The impact of Justin Bieber on global culture over the last 14 years has truly been remarkable.”
“This acquisition ranks among the biggest deals ever made for an artist under the age of 70, such is the power of this incredible catalog that has almost 82 million monthly listeners and over 30 billion streams on Spotify alone.”
According to Billboard, purchasing Justin Bieber’s rights is a risky investment because they lack the longevity of Bruce Springsteen’s and Paul Simon’s.
After Justin Bieber announced that he was canceling his tour to focus on his health, news of the purchase of his music rights spread.
In October, the “Stay” singer announced that the remaining “Justice Tour” dates would be postponed until 2023, and that ticket holders would be notified of the next steps and updates.
In June 2022, Justin revealed to his many followers that he was suffering from Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome, an illness that had left his face mostly paralyzed.
He continued to tell fans that after leaving the stage that time, tiredness overtook him, and he realized that his health came first, even if he briefly resumed his European tour in September 2022.
On October 20, 2022, Justin stated on Instagram:
“So I’m going to take a break from touring for the time being. I’m going to be ok, but I need time to rest and get better.”