Beauty and the beat: London-based Hipgnosis buys rights to popstar Justin Bieber’s back catalogue for a reported £163m

Hipgnosis Song Management has bought the back catalogue of Canadian superstar artist and songwriter Justin Bieber.

Bieber’s songs have been streamed over 32 billion times on Spotify alone where he has 82 million monthly listeners.

Hipgnosis said it had acquired Justin Bieber’s 100 per cent interest in his publishing copyrights, master recordings and neighbouring rights for Bieber’s entire back catalogue, which comprises of over 290 titles released before the 31 of December 2021.

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

Bieber is one of the best-selling music artists of all time having sold 150 million records worldwide; all of Bieber’s six official studio albums have been certified platinum or multi- platinum by the RIAA and 33 platinum or multi-platinum singles globally.

Three of his 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.

Who is Justin Bieber

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 number one 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.

He is the first and only artist in Spotify history to earn a record 12 Spotify Plaques recognising songs exceeding one billion streams on the platform, and the first artist in history to chart new number one singles in consecutive weeks on the US ‘Hot 100,’.

Bieber also holds the record for the most number one debuts (10), the most number one singles (13), and the most cumulative weeks at number one 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.

He added that 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, chief executive off Hybe America and Justin Bieber’s manager of 15 years, said: “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.”