Sony Music Publishing × Blackstone
Sony Music Publishing announced an agreement to acquire the Recognition Music Group catalog from Blackstone for a price reported to be between $3.5 and $4 billion. [32, 38, 39] The catalog, built from the former Hipgnosis Songs Fund, contains over 45,000 songs, including works by artists like Beyoncé, Journey, and Leonard Cohen. [32, 37] The acquisition was made in partnership with Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, GIC. [37, 39]
The asset
The complete music rights portfolio of Recognition Music Group, the entity holding the former Hipgnosis Songs Fund catalog. [32, 37]
- 45k songs
The record
- Seller status
- Going concern
- Sector
- private equity / music rights
- Modalities
- music, audio
What it means if you hold data
This is one of the largest music catalog acquisitions in history, marking a major consolidation of valuable music copyrights under a major publisher. It signifies the maturation of music rights as an institutional asset class and strengthens Sony's position as the world's top music publisher. [37, 39]