TIDMSONG
RNS Number : 9419V
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited
13 August 2020
13 August 2020
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited ("Hipgnosis" or the "Company")
Acquisition of Music Catalogue
The Board of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, the first and only UK
listed investment company offering investors a pure-play exposure
to songs and associated intellectual property rights, and its
Investment Adviser, The Family (Music) Limited, are pleased to
announce that the Company has acquired the music royalty catalogue
of American hip hop and R&B music producer, Ernest 'Dion'
Wilson, known as 'No I.D.'. Hipgnosis has acquired 100% of the
artist's worldwide copyrights and publishing royalties, including
writer's share of income, in the Catalogue which comprises 273
songs.
No I.D. has achieved incredible commercial success with artists
including Kanye West, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Usher, Rihanna, Common,
Drake and Ed Sheeran. His songs and productions have collectively
been streamed more than 7 billion times and his catalogue includes
some of the most successful songs of hip hop culture, including: 2x
platinum certified 'Run This Town' by Jay-Z featuring Kayne West
and Rihanna (300 million streams); 4x platinum certified 'Holy
Grail' by Jay-Z featuring Justin Timberlake (400 million streams);
Jay-Z's gold certified 'The Story of O.J.' (30 million streams);
Drake's 3x platinum certified 'Find Your Love' (150 million
streams); Kanye West's platinum certified 'Black Skinhead' (600
million streams), 'Bound 2' (300 million streams), 'Dark Fantasy'
(200 million streams), the gold certified 'Gorgeous' (200 million
streams), 'So Appalled' (100 million streams) and 6x platinum
certified 'Heartless' (500 million streams); and 2x platinum
certified 'Kiss Me' by Ed Sheeran (500 million streams).
Considered the Godfather of Chicago hip hop, No I.D. has been
amongst the most influential songwriters and producers putting his
touch on seminal albums in the genre that are considered amongst
the most important of all time. He rose to fame in the early 1990s
with the production of Common's hip hop classic album,
'Resurrection', including the ode to hip hop 'I Used to Love
H.E.R.' which is often regarded as one of the greatest hip hop
recordings ever, and US Top 25 'The Dreamer/The Believer'.
In 2007, No I.D. began his collaboration with Jay-Z, co-writing
/ producing songs off his US Number 1 and platinum certified album
'American Gangster'. Two years later, he co-wrote and produced six
songs on Jay-Z's critically acclaimed and Number 1 album, 'The
Blueprint 3', including 2x platinum certified UK Number 1 'Run This
Town', featuring Kanye West and Rihanna, which won "Best Rap Song"
and "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" at the 2010 Grammy Awards as well
as an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Music
Composition/Direction/Lyrics", and has been streamed over 122
million times on Spotify, and 'D.O.A (Death of Auto-Tune)' which
won the Grammy for "Best Rap Solo Performance".
In 2008, No I.D. began his work with Kanye West, starting with
'Heartless' which is regarded as the highlight from the
ground-breaking album '808s & Heartbreak'. The collaboration
continued with No I.D. co-writing and producing four tracks on 'My
Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy', which was named the best album of
2010 in many publications' year-end lists, and featured the singles
'Dark Fantasy', 'So Appalled' and 'Gorgeous'. No I.D. also worked
on West's successful sixth studio album, 'Yeezus', released in
2013, having contributed the standout tracks 'Black Skinhead' and
'Bound 2'. The album has been named by many as West's best work. It
debuted at Number 1 on the US Billboard 200 and was certified
platinum after selling 327,000 copies in the first week of release,
while also topping the charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, New
Zealand, Russia and the UK.
In 2010, No I.D. produced two songs from Drake's debut album,
'Thank Me Later', which topped the US Billboard Hot 200 albums
chart and has been certified platinum in the US with over 8 million
copies sold. Notably, No I.D. produced the 3x US platinum certified
hit single 'Find Your Love' which has been streamed over 80 million
streams on Spotify alone.
No I.D. produced Big Sean's 2011 US platinum certified debut
studio album, 'Finally Famous', including the platinum certified
hit single, 'My Last'. Following this, he served as the primary
producer of Big Sean's second album 'Hall of Fame', which debuted
at Number 3 on the Billboard 200 album chart and sold 72,000 copies
in the first week alone. He also worked on Nas' critically
acclaimed album, 'Life is Good' which was released the following
year, producing the hit single 'Daughters' which was nominated at
the Grammy Awards for "Best Rap Performance" and "Best Rap Song".
The album debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart as well as
reaching the Top 10 in the UK and Canada.
A long-time collaborator with Common, No I.D. returned to the
studio to work with the artist on his tenth studio album, 'Nobody's
Smiling'. The album, produced entirely by No I.D., was released in
2014 by No I.D.'s label, ARTium Records. The album debuted at
Number 6 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 24,000 copies in its
opening week giving Common his third Top 10 on the chart and his
highest-charting album since 'Finding Forever' debuted at Number 1
in 2007.
Jay-Z's twelfth studio album, 'Magna Carta Holy Grail', was
released in 2013 and included three successful singles, 'Holy
Grail', 'Tom Ford' and 'Part II (On the Run)', while multiple other
songs on the album also achieved chart success. 'Holy Grail' was
the most successful single on the album reaching Number 4 on the US
Billboard Hot 100 and winning "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" at the
2014 Grammy Awards. No I.D. co-produced the album which featured
guest appearances by Justin Timberlake, Nas, Rick Ross, Frank Ocean
and Beyoncé. He went on to co-write and produce all ten tracks on
Jay-Z's 13th studio album '4:44'. The Grammy nominated album,
debuting at Number 1 in the US, was certified platinum in the US
after only five days and was named 4(th) in Billboard's "The 50
Best Albums of 2017". The album's singles, '4:44' and 'The Story of
O.J.' were both nominated for multiple Grammy Awards.
Merck Mercuriadis, Founder of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited and
The Family (Music) Limited, said:
"The words NO I.D. are a stamp of excellence on any album. From
Kanye West's '808s & Heartbreak', 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted
Fantasy' and 'Yeezus' to Jay-Z's astonishing run from 'American
Gangster' through 'The Blueprint 3', 'Magna Carta Holy Grail' and
'4:44', Dion has been in the middle of everything that is great
about Hip Hop for more than two decades. He is a special creator
and everyone in the Hipgnosis Family is proud to have him standing
next to us."
No I.D. said:
"Not many have the best intentions for the artist and the
creators. Merck and the Hipgnosis team have shown that they are a
safe home for the songs that score our lives."
For further information, please contact:
The Family (Music) Limited Tel: +44 (0)1481 742742
Merck Mercuriadis
N+1 Singer - Joint Corporate Broker Tel: +44 (0)20 7496
James Maxwell / James Moat (Corporate 3000
Finance)
Alan Geeves / James Waterlow / Sam Greatrex
(Sales)
J.P. Morgan Cazenove - Joint Corporate Tel: +44 (0)20 7742
Broker 4000
William Simmonds / Jérémie Birnbaum
(Corporate Finance)
James Bouverat (Sales)
Ocorian - Company Secretary & Administrator Tel: +44 (0) 1481 742614
Mariana Enevoldsen
The Outside Organisation Tel: +44 (0)7711 081
Alan Edwards / Nick Caley 843
FTI Consulting Tel: +44 (0)7771 978220;
Neil Doyle/ Paul Harris/ Laura Ewart +44 (0)7809 411882;
+44 (0)7761 332646
All US music publicity enquiries
Fran Defeo +1 917 767 5255
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited
( www.hipgnosissongs.com )
Hipgnosis, which was founded by Merck Mercuriadis, is a Guernsey
registered investment company established to offer investors a
pure-play exposure to songs and associated musical intellectual
property rights. The Company has raised a total of over GBP860
million (gross equity capital) through its Initial Public Offering
on 11 July 2018, and subsequent issues in April 2019, August 2019,
October 2019 and July 2020. In September 2019, Hipgnosis
transferred its entire issued share capital to the Premium listing
segment of the Official List of the FCA and to the London Stock
Exchange's Premium segment of the Main Market.
About The Family (Music) Limited
The Company's Investment Adviser is The Family (Music) Limited,
which was founded by Merck Mercuriadis, former manager of globally
successful recording artists, such as Elton John, Guns N' Roses,
Morrissey, Iron Maiden and Beyoncé, and hit songwriters such as
Diane Warren, Justin Tranter and The-Dream, and former CEO of The
Sanctuary Group plc. The Investment Adviser has assembled an
Advisory Board of highly successful music industry experts which
include award winning members of the artist, songwriter,
publishing, legal, financial, recorded music and music management
communities, all with in-depth knowledge of music publishing.
Members of The Family (Music) Limited Advisory Board include Nile
Rodgers, The-Dream, Giorgio Tuinfort, Starrah, Nick Jarjour, David
Stewart, Bill Leibowitz, Ian Montone, Jason Flom, Rodney Jerkins,
Bjorn Lindvall and Chris Helm.
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ACQPTMMTMTABBMM
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