Universal Music Group will still have the ownership rights to the original recorded music library, as per media reports. While Hipgnosis didn’t officially confirm the actual numbers, CEO Merck Mercuriadis has said it is one of the “biggest deals ever made for an artist under the age of 70".
“The impact of Justin Bieber on global culture over the last 14 years has truly been remarkable," said Mercuriadis while calling Bieber a “defining artist in the streaming age".
With 69 million monthly listeners and more than 30 billion streams, Bieber is the eights most-listened-to musician in the world on Spotify. More than 2.9 billion people have seen his song "Baby" on YouTube.
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Bieber is not the only artist to sell his music rights for million-dollar deals. Now, the question is why artists are selling their music rights, something they are known to treasure all their life, and even after that.
Universal Music purchased Bob Dylan’s entire songwriting catalogue of more than 600 songs in a deal estimated at more than $300 million. Iconic singer and songwriter Stevie Nicks sold her music catalogue to Primary Wave Music for $100 million.
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Tina Turner sold her music rights to BMG for $100 million. OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder sold his music catalogue to investment company KKR for $200 million. Sony Music Entertainment bought Bruce Springsteen’s entire catalogue for an estimated $550 million.
As nostalgic playlists proliferated and music poured into fitness apps, social media and video games, the Covid-19 pandemic contributed to the hysteria.
Artists are safeguarding their legacies by selling their back catalogues for cash as music becomes more valuable in the streaming era. The typical annual royalties for catalogues have been up to 30 times higher thanks to investors and music publishers.
However, the sale of Justin Bieber’s music catalogue is unique because he is a relatively young artist unlike the other names, who have decades of musical legacy and are more likely to have a repeat value in music streaming.
