A few months after Bob Dylan's spectacular sale of his editorial catalog to Universal Music for the tidy sum of $ 300, Neil Young has just sold 50% of his to the British investment fund Hipgnosis - created in 2018 by Merck Mercuriadis, which has worked as a manager with Elton John or Iron Maiden.
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The company, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange, raised £ 625m (around € 690m) to acquire rights.
She has already acquired those from successful producer Timbaland or crooner Barry Manilow.
The group also controls the rights to dozens of hits, including
Shape of You
by Ed Sheeran and
Uptown Funk!
by Bruno Mars.
According to the BBC, the transaction, which covers all 1,180 tracks composed by the 75-year-old musician, would amount to 150 million dollars, a figure that Hipgnosis has not confirmed.
By acquiring the catalog of Neil Young, an artist renowned for his integrity and intransigence, Mercuriadis, who declared himself a “fan” of the artist, explained that he was continuing to ensure the use that will be made of his songs.
Neil Young has been notoriously opposed to the exploitation of his music in commercials, a position he shares with Tom Waits.
“You'll never hear Burger of Gold,”
he explained, referring to
Young's biggest hit
song
Heart of Gold
from his 1972 album,
Harvest
.
From
Buffalo Springfield
to his collaborations with Pearl Jam or Promise of the Real via his foray into Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Neil Young has been one of the most influential figures in the rock scene since his beginnings in 1966.