Music investments : Hipgnosis Songs Fund
Disclaimer, this is not financial advice, it is purely educational.
There has never been more open access to the music industry for investors. Be-it both whole and part catalogue auctions, share of songs, recent hints of music bonds and music industry IPO’s (Initial Public Offerings) . There has never been so many options for both retail and institutional investors, (for both individuals and companies). Yesterday digital streaming platform Deezer announced going public whilst Spotify and Netease Cloud Music recently floated their stock. Major record companies Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group are publicly listed on stock markets and there has been several recent high profile catalogue acquisitions such as Bowie’s, Bob Dylan’s, Neil Young’s and David Crosby’s. Which leads nicely onto the Hipgnosis Song Fund, one of the main players in this space, and owner of Neil Young’s catalogue.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund, listed on the London Stock Exchange, is a UK investment company “offering investors a pure-play exposure to Songs and associated musical intellectual property rights.” Founded by Merck Mercuriadis and Nile Rodgers in 2018.
Mercuriadis is a British-Canadian music industry executive and entrepreneur Merck Mercuriadis who has managed artists including Nile Rodgers, Beyoncé, Elton John, Guns N' Roses and Iron Maiden. Nile Rodgers is the is an American guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and arranger and co-founder of Chic with songwriting credits for Sister Sledge, Diana Ross and Daft Punk.
Hipgnosis gives investors access to a portfolio of “extraordinarily successful hit Songs by culturally important artists and to establish Songs as an uncorrelated asset class with attractive returns.”
What’s interesting about music royalties, they are unaffected by the stock market, the bond market, and the currency and foreign exchange markets. The income streams flow from a range of different sources including streaming, digital and physical purchases and downloads, fees for placements in visual media (advertising, video games, tv and film), sales of merchandise and public performance. And with web3 and the blockchain developing it only increases opportunity for all of this income and also for new mete verse monetisation. A very exciting time for the music industry.
For the avoidance of doubt, not financial advise.
Higgnosis Songs Fund stock movement as of today, 21st April 2022.
