LONDON (CelebrityAccess) — Hipgnosis Song Management, the pure-play investment vehicle for song-related intellectual property rights, announced they have acquired a majority stake in the catalog of country music legend Kenny Chesney.
The deal, which gives Hipgnosis 80% of Chesney’s recorded music royalties, covering his entire discography, from his 1994 debut In My Wildest Dreams through 2017’s Live in No Shoes Nation. In all, the catalog acquired by Hipgnosis includes music from 22 different albums, 15 of which are certified Platinum, including five multi-Platinum certifications, and 20 of which are certified Gold.
The deal also includes Chesney’s future Greatest Hits, Live and/or Acoustic albums as well as Sound Exchange and Neighboring Rights royalties for every album in Kenny’s catalogue, including two additional Number 1 albums, 2018’s Songs for the Saints and 2020’s Here and Now.
The acquisition of Chesney’s catalog is the first since Hipgnosis announced it was partnering with private equity giant Blackstone to acquire music rights and manage catalogues.
“Kenny Chesney is one of the truly great American artists. He has been bringing joy to music fans all over the world for almost 30 years. His incredible success of more than 30 million records sold including nine No. 1 albums on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart and 17 No. 1 albums on Billboard’s Country chart tells you everything you need to know. Add in his unparalleled success as a touring artist and the juggernaut that is No Shoes Radio, and you realize Kenny is genuinely a phenomenon. It’s a pleasure and a privilege to welcome Kenny and Clint to the Hipgnosis Songs family and we are delighted to launch our new Blackstone backed fund with this landmark acquisition,” said Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis.
“To know that this music has a home that views the work as a collective body, something that builds on itself and captures the heart of No Shoes Nation, was important to me. How these songs live going forward is critical, and I believe Merck has the best interests of not just the recordings but the people who love them as his driving interest. For the people who love these songs and albums, this is a scenario that allows the music to grow and reflect who those of us living inside these songs truly are,” added Kenny Chesney.
Chesney was represented in the deal by his longtime manager Clint Higham at Morris Higham Management and lawyer Jess Rosen at Greenberg Traurig.
Kenny has put his life into amassing the collected body of work contained here, and it’s something we have all taken very seriously throughout his unprecedented career. There is no deal that is more important than protecting the legacy of these songs. Working with Merck and his team to secure this deal, we found people who are as serious about the recordings as we are, and that suggests there is an incredible future for Kenny’s recorded music through the Hipgnosis team,” said Higham.
The financial terms of the catalog sale were not disclosed.
