Photograph Credit score: Ian Dury / CC by 3.0Rod Stewart has referred to as off his catalog acquisition talks with Hipgnosis Songs after a prolonged negotiation course of. Steward will now take his ball house and retain possession of his catalog — or search the next bidder.
“This catalog represents my life’s work,” the 78-year-old singer stated in his assertion to DMN. “And it turned abundantly clear after a lot time and due diligence that this was not the suitable firm to handle my music catalog, profession, or legacy.”
Hipgnosis was shaped in 2018 and shortly began splashing money into music IP. The corporate spent over $1 billion on acquisitions within the fiscal yr of 2021 alone and its portfolio of 65,000 songs was valued at $2.7 billion in July 2022. Hipgnosis contributed to the launch of the Rod Stewart web site final yr — so that is actually an fascinating improvement.
“Sorry, however we’re beneath NDA and might’t remark,” CEO Merck Mercuriadis instructed Digital Music Information when requested for remark. Sir Rod Stewart’s catalog is stuffed with six a long time of extremely profitable studio albums. He has 10 solo #1 albums within the UK, with the newest being 2019’s You’re In My Coronary heart.
A few of Hipgnosis’ high-profile music acquisitions embrace Justin Bieber, Lindsey Buckingham, Jimmy Iovine, Shakira, Justin Timberlake, Kenny Chesney, Tobias Jesso and lots of others. Rod Stewart didn’t clarify why he believes Hipgnosis isn’t the suitable alternative for his catalog after greater than two years of negotiations, although his less-than-conciliatory assertion suggests a fallout.
It’s additionally unclear what the Hipgnosis deal would entail, notably if it will embrace all of Stewart’s IP together with publishing or recording belongings or your entire catalog. It’s additionally doable Rod Stewart is buying round for gives, or maybe Hipgnosis balked on the singer’s worth demand. Both method, this deal is off the desk on either side after brewing for over two years.
Hipgnosis now co-owns no less than 90 of the 356 songs within the Spotify Billions Membership. 81 of these songs fall beneath the Hipgnosis Songs Fund and 17 fall beneath the Hipgnosis Songs Capital umbrella. 8 of these songs within the billions membership are partially owned by each entities.