Seriously? Justin Bieber's Back Catalog Fetches $200 Million?!?

[dubbmann]

Hi all,

At the risk of outing myself as a Boomer (as well as someone with a modicum of musical taste, I'd like to think) this blows my mind.

https://pitchfork.com/news/justin-biebe ... 0-million/

I mean, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Neil Young? Sure, long careers produced huge catalogs of great songs. Justin Bieber? He's 28. Plus from what little I know of that niche inhabited by Bieber and countless others who don't write their own music, these people don't write anything but instead "collaborate" with up to a dozen producers on a single track, talent like Pharrel, Max Mayfield (?), and other top drawer creators who wield ProTools like a flick-knife.

All that said, I'm sure the hedgies at Hipgnosis (shame on them riding on the name of the graphics company founded by Storm Thorgenson) can work Excel spreadsheets with the best of them, and can plug in net-present-value (NPV) of future income streams. So presumably Blieber must be way more successful than I had realized.

I think it's time to go back into my Canterbury-Hawkwind-Krautrock bubble and pretent we're back in 1975. We had bubble-gum rock stars back then on the Billboard charts but we also had Virgin Music (1st incarnation w/ Mike Oldfield et al), Ohr, and other great labels (including UA out of London, whose impresario Giorgio Gomelsky had golden ears and a big checkbook.) Bob Calvert and Barney Bubbles were still alive and Bieber wasn't yet born.

I just want those damn kids to stay off my lawn!

Cheers,

d

[zenguitar]

$10m for the back catalogue and $190m for a promise to stop making music

Andy

[Drew Stephenson]

$10m for the back catalogue and $190m for a promise to stop making music

Andy

[Tomás Mulcahy]

Apparently the name Hipgnosis is an homage. Nile Rodgers is an owner. I've no idea what they're about though. I tried reading their explanation but it makes absolutely no sense at all to me. Niall Ferguson's words are ringing in my ears.

[Drew Stephenson]

Thinking about it a tad longer, I do like one Bieber song...

But that was actually written by Ed Sheeran.

I guess I'll just collect my senior citizens card and join the folks hollering at the kids on their lawn.
Shame it'll be at least 20 years before I can get my pension to go with it...

[OneWorld]

$10m for the back catalogue and $190m for a promise to stop making music

Andy

Don't you mean stop making that din? I'm not sure I'd call it music

[BigRedX]

What exactly has he sold (as was it it even Bieber doing the selling)? According to the BBC Hipgnosis Songs Capital have acquired the publishing rights to the songs, so unless Bieber owned his own publishing then it won't have affected his income at all. And if he did then it's only a portion of his performance royalties that is affected.

Edit: And thinking about it a bit more, if it was just the publishing, it could be a smart move, because to recoup the $200m Hipgnosis Songs Capital may have to work even harder at getting the songs placed in films and TV programs and persuading other artists to cover them, then a typical publish company would.

[Wonks]

Thinking about it a tad longer, I do like one Bieberw song...

But that was actually written by Ed Sheeran.

Blinddrew likes Ed Sheeran..
Blinddrew likes Ed Sheeran..
Blinddrew likes Ed Sheeran..

[/kids chanting]

[Arpangel]

I don’t care one way or the other, in this case, it is, "only music"
If you’re in it for the money, fine, if not fine, I’ll just get on with what I’m doing thanks very much.

[Wonks]

He's apparently sold 80 million albums, but most of his income (approx $80m per year) comes from touring and endorsement deals.

He's getting older, so I expect his selling power will be waning, so it makes sense to sell up the rights whilst he's still able to shift the music in quantity.

[ManFromGlass]

This is all just the preparatory moves for many many years of reunion concerts, remixes, product launches, documentary films and duets with singers not born yet.

Drew you have MUCH to look forward to!!!!

and don’t forget the royalties are divided by writers share and publishing share so if Bieber gets 80 mil as a writer then the pot is 160 mil at least.

[Drew Stephenson]

What exactly has he sold (as was it it even Bieber doing the selling)? According to the BBC Hipgnosis Songs Capital have acquired the publishing rights to the songs, so unless Bieber owned his own publishing then it won't have affected his income at all. And if he did then it's only a portion of his performance royalties that is affected.

Edit: And thinking about it a bit more, if it was just the publishing, it could be a smart move, because to recoup the $200m Hipgnosis Songs Capital may have to work even harder at getting the songs placed in films and TV programs and persuading other artists to cover them, then a typical publish company would.

The piece I read said that Hipgnosis had bought his writing share, the publishing rights and the rights to the masters.
I think that's more than some of the others mentioned upthread have sold - but I could be wrong on that.
Again.