Cal Gaunt
Justin Bieber has sold the rights to his songs for $200 million.
Bieber, 28, shot to fame as a 16-year-old with his song ‘Baby’, which remains one of the US’ best-selling singles.
Since then, he’s become one of the biggest-selling artists of the 21st Century and all six of his studio albums are certified platinum.
Now, though, Bieber has relinquished the rights to his entire catalogue.
Find out more about Justin Bieber’s $200 million music sale below…
This means that megahits like ‘Love Yourself’, ‘Boyfriend’ and ‘What Do You Mean’ are no longer owned by him.
Instead, they’re under the control of Hipgnosis Songs Capital, who have acquired Bieber’s music for a whopping $200 million – which is around £162 million.
The agreement means Hipgnosis will receive royalties every time one of Bieber’s songs is streamed or used on radio, TV or film.
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The deal, a $1 billion joint venture between Blackstone and the British music management firm Hipgnosis Song Management, acquires the publishing rights to 290 of Bieber’s tracks.
In addition to publishing rights, it has also acquired ownership of Bieber’s original master recordings.
That includes all of his music released before December 31, 2021.
Scooter Braun, Bieber’s longtime manager, released a statement after the deal was announced (via CNN): “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.”
Cynthia Katz of the law firm Fox Rothschild, who negotiated Motley Crue’s sale to BMG, says: “If you have something that’s hot, everybody wants to get in on it.
“All of those things coming together has led to a flourishing new market, a new revenue source for artists that I think is wonderful. You have increasing completion.
“That increases the prices and creates bidding wars and all of that, and you have a lot of people jumping on these opportunities.”
Bieber joins a growing list of pop stars who’ve cashed out on their catalogues.
Although it’s more common among older artists, more and more artists are selling stakes in their work to music funds.
In the last two years, legends like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen have both sold back catalogue rights to Sony.
Springsteen was reportedly paid $500 million for the sale of his life’s work.
Justin Timberlake, Sting, and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers have also sold the rights to their music.
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However, pop sensation Taylor Swift has a different take on how an artist’s back catalogue should be handled.
In 2019, she fought hard to gain creative control and re-recorded six of her first studio albums after Big Machine Records sold her masters to Bieber’s manager Braun without informing her beforehand.
Before the deal with Braun was finalised, she says she tried to buy them back – but to no avail.
In a blog post, she wrote: “For years, I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work.
“Instead, I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and ‘earn’ one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in.
“I walked away because I knew once I signed that contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future.
“I had to make the excruciating choice to leave behind my past.”
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