Bought It for a Song

MERCK MERCURIADIS

FOUNDER AND CEO

Hipgnosis

FEW PEOPLE in music have had a bigger year than Merck Mercuriadis, the founder of Hipgnosis Songs Fund, who’s tossed a billion dollars at songwriters, artists, and producers to grab copyrights of some of the biggest charting hits of the past 50 years. Manager-turned-entrepreneur Mercuriadis recently purchased catalogs from artists including Jack Antonoff, Tom DeLonge, and Richie Sambora — not to mention the entire L.A.-based publisher Big Deal Music — and has single-handedly driven up the worth of old hits in the music industry. “These are highly emotional transactions,” he says.

“As songwriters, they’re effectively giving their children to surrogate parents.” Mercuriadis set up the company in 2018 with Nile Rodgers, who he manages, with the aim of amassing an empire of songs to license to movies, TV shows, video games, advertising, and merchandise. “All the Small Things”? “Don’t Stop Believin’ ”? “Livin’ on a Prayer”? Hipgnosis and its investors have a slice of all of those now. The buying won’t go on forever: Mercuriadis says his attention is currently at 90 percent acquisition and 10 percent management, but he hopes those figures will be switched after a few years. Mercuriadis’ ultimate goal is to shift the power dynamics of the music industry, giving more leverage to rights holders while making sure older music remains just as lucrative as fresh new hits. He sees himself as a new breed: “I’m not in the publishing business — I’m in the song-management business,” he says. E.M.