Justin Bieber has added his name to a growing list of pop singers who have signed rights deals by selling the rights to his publishing and artist earnings from his song repertoire.
Hipgnosis acquired the Bieber collection, the music rights investment firm revealed on Tuesday.
“Justin is truly a once in a generation artist and that is reflected and acknowledged 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 all those involved. Justin’s greatness is just beginning.”
A request for comment from CNN was not immediately answered by Bieber's publicist.
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Billboard estimates the deal's value at Ksh.22.8 billion. According to Rolling Stone, Justin Bieber's sale was the most of any artist in his generation.
Numerous musicians, including Justin Timberlake, Sting, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Springsteen, and Neil Young, have recently sold the rights to their income. The late British rocker David Bowie's complete discography, spanning six decades, was also acquired by Warner Music Group.
The sum of Springsteen's contract was roughly $550 million. Other artists' catalogs reportedly sold for prices more comparable to Bieber's earnings.
According to Hannah Karp, editorial director at Billboard, many musicians rushed to sell their rights at the end of 2021 before the Biden Administration raised capital gains taxes, she told CNN last year. Others, particularly those who were nearing the end of their careers as artists, chose to sell their rights in order to manage their estates, according to Karp.
But some younger artists like Bieber have begun selling, too. Imagine Dragons sold their catalog to Concord Music Publishing in August. Shakira stuck 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.”
Conversely, Taylor Swift is battling to keep creative control and re-recording some of her songs to secure publishing rights to her music.
