Justin Bieber nears roughly $200 million deal to sell music rights

Expected deal for star’s publishing and recorded music includes hit songs ‘Love Yourself’ and ‘Baby’

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - AUGUST 12: Justin Bieber performs on day three of Sziget Festival 2022 on Ãâbudai-sziget Island on August 12, 2022 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Joseph Okpako/WireImage)

Expected deal for star’s publishing and recorded music includes hit songs ‘Love Yourself’ and ‘Baby’

Justin Bieber is closing in on a deal to sell his music rights to Hipgnosis Songs Capital for around USD $200 million.

As reported by Wall Street Journal, if a deal is reached, Hipgnosis would collect revenue from Bieber’s recorded music and songwriting royalty streams. The master recordings will continue to be administered and owned by Universal Music Group. 

Over his 13-year career, the Canadian musician has released six studio albums and featured in a slew of massive collaborations, including Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s inescapable ‘Despacito’, DJ Khaled’s ‘I’m The One’, Skrillex and Diplo’s ‘Where Are Ü Now’ and The Kid LAROI’s ‘STAY’.

These past few years have seen a boom in artists selling off their song catalogues, with Justin Timberlake closing a $100 million deal with Hipgnosis back in May, and the likes of Bruno Mars and Ryan Tedder selling off their publishing rights. 

28-year-old Bieber and his songs are considered young in the music copyright market, which peaked during the COVID pandemic off the back of legacy acts like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Nicks selling off their discographies. The pandemic was a major player in the decision of some of the bigger, older artists flogging their catalogues, who were left without touring revenue.

It’s perhaps unsurprising that Bieber, for whom touring is a bit of a sore spot, sold his catalogue. In September he postponed the remaining dates of his Justice tour until an unspecified time “next year” after announcing he was “taking a break” to focus on his health following his Ramsay-Hunt syndrome diagnosis, which left his face partially paralyzed. In 2017, he also cancelled the final stretch of dates of his Purpose world tour.

Bob Dylan, who sold his publishing catalog for $400 million in a landmark deal with Universal Music Group in 2020.

Artists with long careers such as Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks and Bruce Springsteen have sold their catalogue to cement their legacies. 

There are also the tax perks: When selling off an entire catalogue, musicians have to pay a one-time capital gains tax on the asset, handing over around 20% of the sale price to the U.S. government. Annually royalty payments are taxed differently. If the musicians fall into the higher-earner category (someone like Justin Bieber almost certainly would), they’d face a 37% tax bracket annually.