JUSTIN BIEBER SELLS HIS MUSIC RIGHTS

Pop star Justin Bieber has sold his music publishing and recording catalogue for a reported $200 million.

The sale has been on the music industry’s lips for several weeks when Hipgnosis Songs Capital announced that they’ve bought the rights.

According to a statement released by the new owner, the Canadian’s publishing copyrights to his 290-song back catalogue now belongs to them. This includes all of his music released prior to 31 December 2021, including his writer’s share.

News24 reports that it also includes his artist rights to his lucrative master recordings as well as neighbouring rights royalties – a right that sees its owner receive a payment every time a song is played publicly.

This is a risky move for most young artists as it’s usually only older artists with bankable catalogues who sell their rights.

Bieber isn’t just any young artist, he has had eight number-one albums on Billboard’s top albums list with 82 million monthly listeners on Spotify streaming his music. His songs have been streamed on Spotify more than 32 billion times.

But Bieber isn’t the only young artist to have made this move. Shakira also recently sold her rights to Hipgnosis for a noteworthy amount of money.

Older artists like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan recently sold their rights. Springsteen sold his catalogue to Sony for half a billion dollars, a sum that would ensure his retirement years are definitely taken care of.

Image credit: Sky News