Justin Bieber has sold the rights to his songs for $200 million

Justin Bieber is not the first to sell his own music rights to the investment company Hipgnosis and have a huge amount credited to his account in one fell swoop: Shakira and Bob Dylan did it for him.

The Canadian pop star has sold his entire catalog of 290 songs released or recorded through the end of 2021 to Hipgnosis. He would have received an amount of more than 200 million dollars for this.

The catalog also includes international hits such as “Baby”, “Peaches” or “Sorry”, which continue to be massively clicked on streaming platforms or played on the radio. Every time a Justin Bieber song plays anywhere in the world (and it probably does at every conceivable time), Hipgnosis is now making money. Or rather, the investors who invest in the music fund.

Investing in music funds has proven to be a reasonably safe and stable investment in recent years. Unlike the rest of the stock market, music funds react relatively weakly to stock market fluctuations.

The founder and CEO of British investment fund Hipgnosis said of the successfully completed deal: “This acquisition was one of the largest ever completed with an artist under the age of 70.” Justin Bieber has nearly 82 million monthly listeners and more than 30 billion streams on Spotify alone.

However, such a deal is not only worthwhile for the investment fund and those who invest in it, but also for the musicians themselves, writes Rolling Stone Magazine.

For example, a reason to sell the rights to your own music may be that you have reached an advanced age and are concerned about your legacy: a large lump sum is easier to manage and distribute to your descendants than a patchwork of copyright income. that accumulate over an artist’s lifetime. Or that you want to protect yourself: Especially in uncertain times like the corona pandemic, musicians could not perform and therefore perhaps wanted to secure their income – with such a contract.

Then tax considerations also play a role: if Justin Bieber raises $ 200 million for his music in one fell swoop, he will pay the state a much lower tax than if he pays annual taxes on his income in the US at a much higher tax rate.

(ann)