Hipgnosis has acquired the songs catalogue of Justin Timberlake. That’s right, Justin Timberlake. They just bought it right off him. Whoosh, off it goes. WHOOSH!
Is this one of those deals where Hipgnosis just takes a little stake in one a bit of a catalogue though? No. It is not. It covers the whole bloody thing. 100% of all of Timberlake’s song copyrights - including both the publisher’s share and the writer’s share on the performing rights side.
Hipgnosis will also admin the fuck out all those rights just as soon as Timberlake’s super tedious current admin deal with boring old Universal is out of the way.
So, songs-wise, it’s seemingly the full combo. Turns out, Timbo doesn’t want any of it. All those songs were just sitting around cluttering the bloody place up. But no more! Now they’ll be cluttering up the HQ of Hipgnosis Songs Capital - that being the partnership between Hipgnosis Song Management and money berks Blackstone.
“Justin Timberlake is not only one of the most influential artists of the last 20 years but he’s also one of the greatest songwriters of all time”, says Hipgnosis CEO Merck Mercuriadis, in typically understated fashion. “His hit songs - including ‘Cry Me A River’, ‘Rock Your Body’, ‘SexyBack’, ‘My Love’, ‘What Goes Around... Comes Around’, ‘Suit & Tie’, ‘Mirrors’ and ‘Can’t Stop The Feeling’ - are amongst the most iconic of the period”.
“Putting this deal together”, he adds, “has been a complete labour of love for Justin, Rick , David and myself and I’m delighted to welcome them all to the Hipgnosis Family. This is the beginning of what we believe will be an incredible relationship important to us all”.
Timberlake himself adds: “I am excited to be partnering with Merck and Hipgnosis - he values artists and their creative work and has always been a strong supporter of songwriters and storytelling. I look forward to entering this next chapter”.
Hipgnosis hasn’t stated how much the deal is worth, but the rumour is that Timberlake’s walking away with more than $100 million. And if that’s in cash, well, that’s also going clutter the place up, isn’t it? I’m not sure Justin’s really thought this through.