Hipgnosis buys music rights from Taylor Swift and Lorde songwriter
Music royalty fund Hipgnosis has beefed up its slate of songs after snapping up the catalogue of the songwriter and producer behind top hits by artists such as Taylor Swift and Lorde.
Joel Little is best known for his collaboration with Lorde, co-writing and producing her debut EP The Love Club, which featured smash hit Royals, as well as working on her first and second albums.
He also co-wrote and produced four songs on Taylor Swift’s Number 1 album Lover, including three singles Me!, You Need to Calm Down and The Man.
Other hits include Khalid’s Young Dumb & Broke, as well as songs by Ellie Goulding, Imagine Dragons, Shawn Mendes, Sam Smith and James Bay.
In total, Little’s tracks have been streamed more than 15bn times.
The deal will see Hipgnosis take control of the Grammy award-winning songwriter’s entire catalogue of 178 songs.
Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis described Little as “one of the most important songwriters in the world today”.
It is the latest acquisition in a recent song-buying spree for Hipgnosis, which generates additional revenue by placing songs in films, TV shows and adverts.
The London-listed company is looking to cash in on the growing trend of artists selling their song catalogues as the rise of streaming drives up the value of music rights.
Other deals this year include songs by Metallica, Michael Buble, Shakira and Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham.