New York
CNN
—
Justin Bieber has sold the rights to his publishing and artist rights to his catalog of songs, adding to a growing list of pop stars who have signed rights deals.
Bieber has sold his catalog to Hipgnosis, the music rights investment firm announced Tuesday.
“Justin is truly a once-in-a-generation artist and that is reflected and recognized by the magnitude of this deal,” Bieber’s longtime manager Scooter Braun said in a statement. “For 15 years I have been grateful to witness this journey and today I am happy for everyone who has been on it. Justin’s greatness has only just begun.
Bieber’s publicist did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
The deal is valued at $200 million, according to Billboard. Rolling Stone called the sale the biggest of any artist of Bieber’s generation.
Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Stevie Nicks, Justin Timberlake, Sting and more recently sold their royalties. Warner Music Group has also purchased British rock star David Bowie’s entire catalog spanning six decades.
Springsteen’s deal was worth around $550 million. Other artists’ catalogs reportedly sold for an amount closer to Bieber’s loot.
By the end of 2021, many artists had rushed to sell their rights before the Biden administration authorized higher capital gains taxes, Billboard’s editorial director Hannah Karp told CNN last year. . Others, especially late-career artists, have chosen to sell their rights for estate planning purposes, Karp said.
But some younger artists like Bieber have also started selling. Imagine Dragons sold its catalog to Concord Music Publishing in August. Shakira has struck a deal announced this month with Hipgnosis Songs Fund for her entire catalog, which includes hits like “Hips Don’t Lie,” “Whenever, Wherever” and “She Wolf.”
But Taylor Swift is taking the opposite tack, fighting to retain creative control and re-recording some of her songs to secure the publishing rights to her music.
– CNN’s Chloe Melas contributed to this report
