Justin Bieber is the latest musical artist to sell his entire catalog, and the $200 million he got for it is the most any artist of his generation has made for such a deal, Billboard reports. Hipgnosis Songs Capital bought the publishing and recorded music rights for Bieber's entire back catalog, which Rolling Stone reports amounts to 290 songs released prior to the end of 2021.
As CNN reports, "Many artists at the end of 2021 had rushed to sell their rights before the Biden Administration allowed capital gains taxes to increase," while others simply wanted to make estate planning easier; still others—notably Taylor Swift—are on the other end of the spectrum in terms of preferring to keep creative control. The trend of selling the rights to all royalties has been more pronounced among legacy acts; Bruce Springsteen sold his for $550 million. Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Stevie Nicks, Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon, and Sting are among those who have made similar moves.
Younger artists are starting to do the same; Justin Timberlake, Imagine Dragons, and Shakira have recently made deals. But as Billboard notes, since they don't have as many years of popularity proving their worth as a long-term investment, they're typically seen as riskier and don't sell for as much. Bieber, however, has charted eight No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 since his career launched in 2009, not to mention a plethora of other similar accomplishments that could be listed. "For over a decade now Justin Bieber has entertained us and moved us with some of the biggest songs in the world," said his manager, Scooter Braun, after the deal. (More Justin Bieber stories.)
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