Neil Young Sells 50% of His Songwriting Catalog to Hipgnosis for an Estimated $150 Million

These are busy times for Hipgnosis Songs Fund, a London-based music management company. On Wednesday, it was reported that the company has acquired the rights to 50 percent of the “copyright and income interests” in the music of Neil Young, per Music Business Worldwide.

The news comes on the heels of Hipgnosis having acquired the publishing and writing rights of longtime Fleetwood Mac guitarist/songwriter Lindsey Buckingham, totaling 161 songs in all.

According to Music Business Worldwide, the Neil Young acquisition nets Hipgnosis 1,180 compositions in total, earning Young an estimated $150 million.

I knew I would never be a singer or songwriter myself so my love for Neil also extended to his manager Elliot Roberts, who is sadly no longer with us, Elliot was the template for who I wanted to be. [1/8]https://t.co/60EEEthrmm

— Hipgnosis Songs (@HipgnosisSongs) January 6, 2021

More, per MBW:

MBW has confirmed that this deal includes both 50% of the publisher share and 50% of the writer’s share in Young’s music, spanning his work with Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Crazy Horse, in addition to the singer/songwriter’s full solo catalog.

Hipgnosis Songs Fund founder Merck Mercuriadis issued a statement about the Neil Young acquisition:

“I bought my first Neil Young album aged seven. Harvest was my companion and I know every note, every word, every pause and silence intimately. Neil Young, or at least his music, has been my friend and constant ever since.

“Over the last 50 years that friendship took me back to Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After The Gold Rush, and guided me forward to On The Beach, Tonight’s The Night, Zuma, Comes A Time, Rust Never Sleeps, Trans, This Note’s For You, Freedom, Ragged Glory, Greendale and through each successive album and on to last year’s Colorado. They’re part of who I am, they’re in many ways responsible for who I’ve become and they’re most certainly in my DNA.”

All of this recent activity comes roughly a month after Bob Dylan made waves for selling his entire songwriting catalog for more than $300 million.