Rod Stewart has called off his catalog acquisition talks with Hipgnosis Songs after a lengthy negotiation process. Steward will now take his ball home and retain ownership of his catalog — or seek a higher bidder.
“This catalog represents my life’s work,” the 78-year-old singer said in his statement to DMN. “And it became abundantly clear after much time and due diligence that this was not the right company to manage my song catalog, career, or legacy.”
Hipgnosis was formed in 2018 and soon started splashing cash into music IP. The company spent over $1 billion on acquisitions in the fiscal year of 2021 alone and its portfolio of 65,000 songs was valued at $2.7 billion in July 2022. Hipgnosis contributed to the launch of the Rod Stewart website last year — so this is certainly an interesting development.
“Sorry, but we are under NDA and can’t comment,” CEO Merck Mercuriadis told Digital Music News when asked for comment. Sir Rod Stewart’s catalog is filled with six decades of highly successful studio albums. He has 10 solo #1 albums in the UK, with the most recent being 2019’s You’re In My Heart.
Some of Hipgnosis’ high-profile song acquisitions include Justin Bieber, Lindsey Buckingham, Jimmy Iovine, Shakira, Justin Timberlake, Kenny Chesney, Tobias Jesso and many others. Rod Stewart didn’t make clear why he believes Hipgnosis isn’t the right choice for his catalog after more than two years of negotiations, though his less-than-conciliatory statement suggests a fallout.
It’s also unclear what the Hipgnosis deal would entail, particularly if it would include all of Stewart’s IP including publishing or recording assets or the entire catalog. It’s also possible Rod Stewart is shopping around for offers, or perhaps Hipgnosis balked at the singer’s price demand. Either way, this deal is off the table on both sides after brewing for over two years.
Hipgnosis now co-owns at least 90 of the 356 songs in the Spotify Billions Club. 81 of those songs fall under the Hipgnosis Songs Fund and 17 fall under the Hipgnosis Songs Capital umbrella. 8 of those songs in the billions club are partially owned by both entities.