Legendary folk rocker Neil Young sold 50% of his song catalog to the Hipgnosis Songs Fund, a UK investment vehicle founded by music industry veteran Merck Mercuriadis.
The deal gives Hipgnosis the rights to worldwide copyright and the revenue interests of 1,180 songs written by Young, and has been reported to cost around $ 150 million.
“I bought my first Neil Young album at age 7. ‘Harvest’ was my companion and I know every note, every word, every pause and silence intimately, ”said former talent manager Mercuriadis in a statement on Wednesday.
Young never licensed any of his songs for commercial use and this is unlikely to change. “There will never be a ‘Burger Of Gold’,” said the investment firm.
“Neil Young, or at least his music, has been my friend and constant ever since.”
Hipgnosis floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2018 and acquires music royalties in order to generate revenue sources. On Tuesday, the fund announced that it had acquired the entire catalog of Fleetwood Mac guitarist and lead singer Lindsey Buckingham.
He also invested in the song rights of artists such as Mark Ronson, Chic, Barry Manilow and Blondie.
Young never licensed any of his songs for commercial use and Mercuriadis indicated that this is unlikely to change.
“I built Hipgnosis to be a company that Neil would like to be a part of. We have common integrity, ethics and passion born out of a belief in music and these important songs, ”he said.
“There will never be a ‘Burger Of Gold’, but we will work together to ensure that everyone can hear them on Neil’s terms.”
This is a reference to Young’s extremely popular song, “Heart of Gold”, from the 1972 Canadian singer and songwriter’s iconic album “Harvest”.
Last month, Universal Music Group purchased the entire catalog of 600 Bob Dylan songs.