Hipgnosis buys the production royalties from Jimmy Iovine Back to catalog

Hipgnosis, the UK music publishing company, has acquired the rights to the production royalty catalog from Jimmy Iovine, co-founder of Beats, covering albums by John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith and U2.

This is the latest catalog signed by Hipgnosis which is at the forefront of a group of specialized funds – including Round Hill and Primary Wave – recovering the rights to old songs.

The value of catalog backlogs has risen sharply over the past five years due to the streaming boom, which has prompted more artists and songwriters to cash in their royalties by selling their rights to specialty funds or, as this was the case with Bob Dylan, major record companies.

Mr. Iovine made his name as a producer in the 1970s and 1980s working with a range of artists such as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Dire Straits, Boom Crash Opera and Stevie Nicks on some of the most successful albums. sold at the time.

He founded Interscope Records, a label at the heart of the emerging West Coast hip hop scene in the 1990s, and created the headphones and streaming brand Beats with Dr Dre which was sold to Apple for $ 3 billion. dollars in 2014, making them both billionaires. Mr. Iovine then ran Apple Music as on Spotify.

Hipgnosis, which was founded by Merck Mercuriadis, acquired the worldwide producer royalties from Mr. Iovine comprising 259 songs as well as his film production royalties for the film Eminem 8 miles and the 50 Cent function Get rich or die trying, his first foray into film rights. He did not disclose what he paid for the rights.

Producer Royalties, often referred to as “points” in the industry, go to top producers who work with labels and artists to turn songs into hit records instead of songwriter credit. . The producer discount is taken out of the royalty on the record and could be very lucrative on a hit album or song making up to 5 percent of sales in some deals.

Mr Iovine said he would use the profits to build a school in South Los Angeles. “I’m happy that my work as a producer with so many great artists has found the right place with Merck and Hipgnosis,” he said.

Hipgnosis, who has spent more than £ 1.2bn on the rights to 58,000 songs, said in December he was in active discussions over a pipeline of new catalog deals worth £ 1bn and would seek to raise new funds to obtain these rights.