Pop singer Justin Timberlake has sold his music rights to Hipgnosis Song Management in a deal valued at just over $100 million.
The deal gives Hipgnosis access to a catalog of nearly 200 songs written or co-written by the Cry Me a River singer. But according to the Wall Street Journal, the deal does not cover future Justin Timberlake songs.
“I am delighted to partner with Merck [Mercuriadis], the CEO and founder of Hipgnosis, and Hipgnosis. He appreciates artists and their creative work and has always been a strong advocate for songwriters and stories,” the singer said in a statement.
“Justin Timberlake is not only one of the most influential artists of the past twenty years, but also one of the greatest songwriters of all time,” Merck Mercuriadis told the Guardian. His hit songs including Cry Me a River, Rock Your Body, SexyBack, My Love, What Goes Around… Comes Around, Suit
Justin Timberlake is one of the fastest-selling artists in pop music history, first as a member of NSYNC and then as a solo artist. But it was not the American singer who wrote NSYNC’s greatest hits, which sold 70 million copies. Thus, the group’s flagship titles such as Bye Bye Bye and It’s Gonna Be Me are therefore not part of the catalog.
This is not the first time that an artist has given up his musical catalog. Indeed, a few months ago, Bruce Springsteen sold his rights for 550 million dollars to Sony. Bob Dylan also gave up his recording rights to them and sold his copyrights to Universal for an estimated $300 million in 2020. But selling Justin Timberlake’s catalog, just 41, is relatively rare in his age, notes Wall Street Journal.
The Hipgnosis Songs Capital fund was launched in October 2021 by Blackstone, in partnership with Hipgnosis, the company of the former manager of Elton John. Blackstone has announced that it will invest a billion dollars in the acquisition of musical catalogs and take a stake in Hipgnosis Song Management.
