TIDMSONG
RNS Number : 3826K
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited
04 January 2021
4 January 2021
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited ("Hipgnosis" or the "Company")
Acquisition of Music Catalogue
The Board of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, the first 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 catalogue of Jimmy Iovine, a
legendary and highly influential record producer in the 70's and
80's and one of the most important record executives and music
entrepreneurs of all time.
Hipgnosis has acquired 100% of Jimmy Iovine's catalogue of
worldwide producer royalties comprising 259 songs and his film
production royalties for '8 Mile' and 'Get Rich or Die Tryin'.
Jimmy Iovine rose to prominence as an engineer working with John
Lennon ('Walls & Bridges', 'Rock & Roll') and Bruce
Springsteen ('Born To Run', 'Darkness On The Edge Of Town'). In
1978 he produced Patti Smith's critically acclaimed, 'Easter', one
of the most culturally important albums of its time, and its UK Top
5 hit single 'Because The Night'. Following up on this success,
Jimmy Iovine produced Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' breakthrough
third album 'Damn The Torpedoes' in 1979 which was certified 3x
platinum in the US in the year of its release. 'Damn The Torpedoes'
was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' first Top 10 album, reaching
Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 200, and in 2012 was named by Rolling
Stone as one of their "500 Greatest Albums of all Time". The album
included two hit singles with 'Don't Do Me Like That' and 'Refugee'
which reached Number 10 and Number 15 in the US respectively as
well as 'Even The Losers' which, whilst not released as a single,
has become one of the highest regarded songs of Tom Petty's
repertoire.
In the 80's Jimmy Iovine produced some of the most important
albums of the decade including Dire Straits' 'Making Movies',
Stevie Nicks' debut solo album 'Bella Donna', U2's 'Under a Blood
Red Sky' and 'Rattle and Hum', Simple Minds' 'Once Upon A Time',
and The Pretenders' 'Get Close'.
- Dire Straits' 'Making Movies', which included the hit singles
'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Tunnel of Love', is certified
multi-platinum globally.
- Stevie Nicks' 1981 'Bella Donna' has been named by Billboard
as one of the "Greatest of All Time Billboard 200 Albums". Peaking
at Number 1 in the US, the album was certified 4x platinum in the
year of its release and remained on the Billboard Hot 200 chart for
nearly three years. As well as producing the album, Jimmy Iovine
produced the hit singles 'Stop Draggin' My Heart Around', a duet
with Tom Petty that reached Number 3 on the Billboard charts, and
'Edge of Seventeen' which has become Stevie Nicks' signature and
most enduring song.
- In 1983 Jimmy Iovine produced U2's iconic album and concert
film 'Under a Blood Red Sky'. The album was the band's commercial
breakthrough and is multi-platinum all over the world. He followed
this with their 1988 hybrid live/studio album 'Rattle and Hum'
which has gone on to sell 14 million copies worldwide. 'Rattle and
Hum' topped the album charts in seven countries including the UK
and US and included U2's first UK Number 1 single 'Desire' which
was also produced by Jimmy Iovine.
- Simple Minds' Number 1 album from 1985, 'Once Upon A Time'
including the US Number 3 single 'Alive And Kicking', is also
multi-platinum, as is The Pretenders' 'Get Close' from 1986 which
included the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Number 1 hits 'Don't Get
Me Wrong' and 'My Baby'.
- In 1987, Jimmy Iovine brought Madonna, Whitney Houston, Bruce
Springsteen, Sting, Run DMC, John Mellencamp, The Pretenders,
Eurythmics, Stevie Nicks, Bryan Adams, U2, Bon Jovi and many others
together to make one of the bestselling Christmas albums of all
time with 'A Very Special Christmas'. The series has gone on to
raise more than $100 million for the Special Olympics.
Moving away from production in 1990, Jimmy Iovine co-founded
Interscope becoming one of the most prominent figures in the music
industry and one of the most important people in Hip Hop,
developing the careers of Tupac, Dr Dre and Eminem. He also
reinvigorated U2 with their album 'All That You Can Leave Behind'
and hit single 'Beautiful Day', both of which reached Number 1 all
over the world, before going on to have massive success with Gwen
Stefani, Nine Inch Nails, Black Eyes Peas, One Republic, Lady Gaga
and many others. Interscope was the hottest label in music for many
years and "The House That Jimmy Built" continues to have massive
success today.
In 2002, Jimmy Iovine co-produced the box office hit '8 Mile'
starring Eminem which grossed over $240m. The soundtrack has been
certified 4x platinum in the US alone and sold over 15 million
copies globally. It was the second biggest selling album of 2002
whilst 'Lose Yourself', a Number 1 single all over the world and
arguably the most influential song of its time, won an Academy
Award for "Best Original Song". Three years later Jimmy Iovine
co-produced the film 'Get Rich or Die Tryin' based on 50 Cent's
album of the same name. Jimmy Iovine was executive producer on the
soundtrack which has sold over three million copies worldwide.
In 2008, Iovine founded 'Beats Electronics' and Beats Music with
Dr Dre. 'Beats Electronics' went on to dominate the headphone
market before becoming a highly influential and massively
successful lifestyle brand. It was sold to Apple Inc in 2016 for $3
billion with Beats Music becoming the foundation for Apple
Music.
In 2017 HBO aired the four part series 'The Defiant Ones' which
has become one of the most successful documentaries ever. It
focuses on the partnership of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre and the
success of 'Beats Electronics'.
Jimmy Iovine was represented by Paul Wachter of Main Street
Advisors and attorneys Eric Sacks and Don Friedman of Grubman Shire
Meiselas & Sacks.
Merck Mercuriadis, Founder of The Family (Music) Limited and
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, said:
"While barely in my teens I noticed that so many of my favourite
albums had one name in common. The best albums by John Lennon,
Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith all had Jimmy Iovine on them. This
continued through the 80's with Stevie Nicks, Dire Straits, U2,
Simple Minds, The Pretenders and more from Tom and Patti and I have
been glued to everything Jimmy does ever since. His incomparable
success with Interscope and Beats means that he would never have to
make a deal for money again, but leave it to Jimmy to figure out
the most efficient way possible to use his producer royalties to
build a best in class high school in the inner city and once again
make a massive difference, as he has throughout his life. It's an
honour to now be a custodian of his incredible work on these iconic
albums and I'm very happy to welcome him to the Hipgnosis
family."
Jimmy Iovine said:
"I'm happy that my work as a producer with so many great artists
has found the right home with Merck and Hipgnosis. I am going to
use the proceeds from the deal to help Iovine Young Academy's
initiative to build a high school in South LA as part of the Iovine
Young Academy at USC and continue our efforts to support
education."
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 / Amanda 3000
Gray (Corporate 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)
RBC Capital Markets - Joint Corporate Tel: +44 (0)20 7635
Broker 4000
Will Smith / Elliot Thomas / Lauren
Davies (Corporate Finance)
Lisa Tugwell (Sales)
Ocorian - Company Secretary & Administrator Tel: +44 (0) 1481
Julian Carey 742742
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 GBP1.05
billion (gross equity capital) through its Initial Public Offering
on 11 July 2018, and subsequent issues in April 2019, August 2019,
October 2019, July 2020 and September 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, and in
March 2020 became a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
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
A. Stewart, Bill Leibowitz, Ian Montone, Rodney Jerkins, Bjorn
Lindvall and Chris Helm.
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