Bieber, Shakira Royalties Back New $372M Bond Sale
Recognition Music Group (formerly Hipgnosis) will use proceeds to repay debts and fund reserves
Recognition Music Group is selling $372 million in bonds backed by royalties from its multi-billion dollar catalog, which includes recorded music and/or publishing rights from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shakira and Justin Bieber to name a few.
The fine print:
The proceeds will be utilized to repay debts and fund reserves.
As per Digital Music News, the deal is part of Recognition’s “broader strategy” of digging into the asset-backed securities (ABS) market fueled by music royalties.
The publication states, “The transaction is structured as a music royalty ABS, with the bonds collateralized by royalties from a catalog valued at just shy of $3 billion.”
That catalog contains over 47,000 recordings and compositions.
The news follows the announcement earlier this week of a $1.8 billion ABS by Concord.
Backstory:
Recognition Music Group was previously known as Hipgnosis, which was founded in 2018 by Merck Mercuriadis.
It was acquired by Blackstone in 2024 and rebranded.
Recognition Music Group is selling $372 million in bonds backed by royalties from its multi-billion dollar catalog, which includes recorded music and/or publishing rights from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shakira and Justin Bieber to name a few.
The fine print:
The proceeds will be utilized to repay debts and fund reserves.
As per Digital Music News, the deal is part of Recognition’s “broader strategy” of digging into the asset-backed securities (ABS) market fueled by music royalties.
The publication states, “The transaction is structured as a music royalty ABS, with the bonds collateralized by royalties from a catalog valued at just shy of $3 billion.”
That catalog contains over 47,000 recordings and compositions.
The news follows the announcement earlier this week of a $1.8 billion ABS by Concord.
Backstory:
Recognition Music Group was previously known as Hipgnosis, which was founded in 2018 by Merck Mercuriadis.
It was acquired by Blackstone in 2024 and rebranded.
Recognition Music Group is selling $372 million in bonds backed by royalties from its multi-billion dollar catalog, which includes recorded music and/or publishing rights from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shakira and Justin Bieber to name a few.
The fine print:
The proceeds will be utilized to repay debts and fund reserves.
As per Digital Music News, the deal is part of Recognition’s “broader strategy” of digging into the asset-backed securities (ABS) market fueled by music royalties.
The publication states, “The transaction is structured as a music royalty ABS, with the bonds collateralized by royalties from a catalog valued at just shy of $3 billion.”
That catalog contains over 47,000 recordings and compositions.
The news follows the announcement earlier this week of a $1.8 billion ABS by Concord.
Backstory:
Recognition Music Group was previously known as Hipgnosis, which was founded in 2018 by Merck Mercuriadis.
It was acquired by Blackstone in 2024 and rebranded.
Recognition Music Group
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Shakira
Justin Bieber
Concord
Hipgnosis
Merck Mercuriadis
Blackstone
Digital Music News
Music Catalog Investment Boom
Securitization Of Music Rights
Artist Catalog Valuation
Private Equity Investment In Music
Music Catalog Acquisitions
Asset-Backed Securities
Catalog Sales
Mergers & Acquisitions
Music Publishing
United States
United Kingdom
👋 Disclosures & Transparency Block
- This story was written with information sourced from Digital Music News.
- We covered it because of Recognition's profile in the rights space.
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