Hipgnosis Songs Fund

2018: Founding, debut on London Stock Exchange

Hipgnosis Songs Fund was founded by Merck Mercuriadis, who has managed artists including Elton John, Iron Maiden, Morrissey, Beyoncé, and Nile Rodgers. Mercuriadis stated in a February 2019 interview: "Nile and I, one day, just started riffing off of these ideas of how do we change this system, how do change what’s going on today where the songwriter – who provides the most important component in an artist having success – is the lowest person on the totem pole?" Mercuriadis believed that a rights and song management company with substantial assets could change the existing economics of publishing for songwriters, and in 2018, building capital by offering investors pure-play exposure to songs and associated musical intellectual property rights in place, Hipgnosis Songs Fund was formally founded. The company was named after Hipgnosis, the art and design group founded by Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell. The Family Limited, an advisory board that included Mercuriadis, Rodgers, Starrah, The-Dream, David A. Stewart, Nick Jarjour, Bill Leibowitz, and Ian Montone was established in 2018. Rodney Jerkins joined the advisory board in July 2020.Hipgnosis Songs Fund went public in July 2018; an earlier plan to float the company in the UK had been postponed to conduct further due diligence. Its prospectus stated that there was a "unique market opportunity as technology disruption is changing the way music is consumed." At its July 10, 2018 launch on the British Stock Exchange, Hipgnosis Songs Fund raised £202m, well over its goal. Trading as SONG, it was one of two investment trust IPOs that were oversubscribed that year. Following the listing, the company reported that it had acquired a 75 percent interest in its first music rights catalog from musician The-Dream for £18.83 million. Among other hits, the 302-song collection included Justin Bieber's "Baby", Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Beyonce's "Single Ladies ".By the end of 2018, Hipgnosis acquired the Poo Bear catalogue of 214 songs, including Justin Bieber's "What Do You Mean?" and the English language version of "Despacito"; a 37.5% stake in Chic co-founder Bernard Edwards' catalogue, which comprised 290 songs including "Everybody Dance", "Le Freak," "I Want Your Love" and "Good Times"; the 121-song catalogue of TMS, including "Don't Be So Hard On Yourself" for Jess Glynne, and "Wings" and "DNA" for Little Mix; and the 121-song catalogue of Tricky Stewart, who co-wrote many of The-Dream's hit songs, including "Me Against the Music" , and Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body."

2019: Acquisitions, second and third raise, listing on LSE Premium segment

Prior to a second raise of £146.5 million in April 2019, Hipgnosis acquired the 182-song catalogue of Giorgio Tuinfort, including more than 15 UK Top 10 singles with David Guetta; Itaal Shur , the 249-song catalogue of Johnta Austin, ; 588 songs by Sean Garrett, including "Yeah", Ciara's "Goodies, and "Check on It by Beyoncé; and the 245 song catalogue of Rico Love, including ""Without You" by David Guetta. In October 2019, the company acquired Timbaland's catalogue, which included all six albums by Missy Elliot, and the five Justin Timberlake albums that Timbaland produced. The catalogue comprises 108 albums and songs with collective sales in excess of 32 million. Five songs co-owned by Hipgnosis appeared in the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 of the decade chart. . In December 2019, Hipgnosis added the first four studio albums by Kaiser Chiefs, and the songwriting catalogue of Jack Antonoff to its repertoire.Hipgnosis raised £49.9 million in August 2019, and an additional £233.7 million in October, bringing its "acquisition warchest" to nearly £650 million. As of October 2019, Hipgnosis Songs Fund holdings included more than 6000 songs, with hits from every decade since the 1950s, valued at £1.2 billion. In November 2019 the company was admitted to the London Stock Exchange Premium Segment of the Official List on the completion of four equity fundraises since its launch in June 2018.

2020: Acquisition of Kobalt Capital, Hipgnosis Songs Group, FTSE 250 Index

In January 2020, former blink-182 guitarist Tom DeLonge sold his publishing rights to Hipgnosis. In April 2020 the company acquired 70% of Mark Ronson's catalogue.On 2 July 2020, to fund new investments to build a "pipeline of catalogs with an acquisition value of over £1bn," Hipgnosis announced that it sought to raise an additional £200 million through issuing a new tranche of class C shares. On July 7, following the release of its FY2020 annual report—which disclosed that Hipgnosis had generated £65.661 million in revenue during its 2020 fiscal year—the company's market capitalisation hit an all-time high of nearly £1 billion.Hipgnosis exceeded its July 2020 fundraising goal of £200 million after its new share placing was oversubscribed. The company raised £236.4 million, its largest equity raise, bringing Hipgnosis' total raise to more than £862 million. It subsequently acquired the catalogs of Jerkins, RedOne, and Barry Manilow, bringing its portfolio to approximately 13,300 songs.In August 2020, Hipgnosis's market cap exceeded £1 bn. In September 2020, the company acquired the American music publisher Big Deal Music, adding 4,400 copyrights to the company's portfolio. Big Deal was renamed Hipgnosis Songs Group. Later that month Hipgnosis announced that it would issue a new tranche of ordinary shares to raise £190 million, stating that the capital would be used to acquire 50 catalogues that it had identified and exclusively secured. The target of £190 million was hit in 72 hours, bringing the fund's total raise to £1,052 bn, £392m of which was raised in two months.Hipgnosis Songs Fund acquired 100% of the 162-song LA Reid catalogue in October 2020. Reid also joined the Hipgnosis advisory board.In November 2020, Hipgnosis acquired 42 catalogues from Kobalt Music Group, comprising 1,500 songwriters and 33,000 songs, for $322.9 million. The acquired catalogues had been owned by Kobalt Capital's first fund, including Nettwerk, 50 Cent, Skrillex, The B-52s, Enrique Iglesias, and Steve Winwood. Kobalt, which is Hipgnosis' main publishing administrator, continued to represent these catalogues as well as the rest of Hipgnosis. Hipgnosis also bought a 50% stake in the publishing, neighbouring rights and recording catalogue of Rick James in November. In December 2020, Hipgnosis Songs Fund reached a £1.25b market cap.

2021 and 2022: Valuation, Blackstone Group Investment

In January 2021, Jimmy Iovine sold his producer royalties to Hipgnosis, including 259 recordings and his movie production royalties for 8 Mile, which starred Eminem, and 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin'." Iovine stated that proceeds generated from the purchase would fund a new high school in Los Angeles as part of the USC Iovine and Young Academy. Hipgnosis also acquired the catalogue of Fleetwood Mac member Lindsey Buckingham, a 50% stake in the catalogue of Neil Young, all 145 of Shakira's songs, and 43 songs produced by Bob Rock. In March 2021, Hipgnosis acquired the catalogue of songwriter Carole Bayer Sager. In May 2021, Hipgnosis acquired the song catalogue of the Red Hot Chili Peppers for a reported $140-$150 million. Hipgnosis also acquired the catalogue of songwriter Andrew Watt. In August 2021, Hipgnosis acquired the catalogue of Fleetwood Mac member Christine McVie. On 10 August 2020, Hipgnosis acquired 100% of Chris Cornell's catalog of song rights , including his band Soundgarden's catalog.

Hipgnosis' annual report was published in July 2021, valuing the catalogue at $2.2 billion.In October 2021 The Blackstone Group, an alternative investment management company, announced that it would partner with Mercuriadis to invest $1bn US to acquire song catalogues and music rights. It also announced that Blackstone would take an ownership stake in Hipgnosis Song Management.In May 2022, Hipgnosis Song Management acquired 100% of the Justin Timberlake catalog, including the copyright, ownership, and financial interests of the writer's and publisher's share of public performance income. The worldwide administration rights to the compositions, subject to Timberlake's deal with Universal, expiring in 2025, were also acquired.In July 2022, Hipgnosis signed an international sub-publishing deal with Peermusic. French performance rights society SACEM agreed to collect digital royalties for Hipgnosis in Europe.In December 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that Justin Bieber plans to sell his music rights to Hipgnosis for about $200 million.