Justin Timberlake Sells Song Catalog to Blackstone-Backed Hipgnosis for $100 Million
thewrap.comThe Wall Street Journal that the former *NSYNC star’s catalog was valued just over $100 million. Timberlake’s future music projects were not included in the deal, but as of close, he will no longer own any rights to past hits like “SexyBack” and “Cry Me a River.”London-based Hipgnosis took on an initial $1 billion from Blackstone to launch music-rights management arm Hipgnosis Songs Capital late last year.Hipgnosis also owns 50 percent of Neil Young’s catalog, as well as individual songs from several other pop artists.
Merck Mercuriadis, a British former manager of pop stars, leads Hipgnosis and is in part credited with the flurry of music-rights deals that have closed in recent years.
New York-based Blackstone manages more than $900 billion in assets.Other artists to sell their music catalogs in recent years include Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks and Bob Dylan.
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