Justin Bieber is close to signing a deal to sell his music rights to Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Songs Capital for around $200 million. The deal, which has been rumored for weeks, is not yet done. However, it includes Bieber’s shares of his publishing and recorded-music catalog, which sources tell Variety will continue to be administered and owned (respectively) by Universal even if the deal closes. Bieber’s catalog contains shares of his multiple hits over the past 15-years.
Bieber postponed the remaining dates in his “Justice” tour dates until an unspecified time next year. The tour was originally scheduled to launch in 2020, but has been postponed and delayed several times — initially the reasons for the delays was due to the pandemic, but most recently the issues followed Bieber’s bout with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a rare virus that in his case caused facial paralysis. It finally launched in March and covered most of North America, but he postponed the remaining dates early in June after announcing his difficulties with the disease.
Companies such as Hipgnosis have embraced newer catalogs; the Bieber deal would be the largest music-rights acquisition for Hipgnosis to date. Earlier this year, the company acquired the song-catalog rights of Justin Timberlake in a deal reported to be worth just over $100 million.
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