Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited acquires catalogue of Fleetwood Mac lead

On Jan 10, 2021

After buying 25% share of the catalogue in September, the investor now owns all of Buckingham’s music publishing rights, as well as a 50% share of any unreleased compositions

Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited (LON:SONG) announced that it has acquired a catalogue from Lindsey Buckingham, the lead guitarist and vocalist of Fleetwood Mac.

After buying a 25% share of the catalogue in September, the investor now owns all of Buckingham’s music publishing rights, including his Publishing and Writer’s Share of his entire catalogue comprising 161 songs, as well as a 50% share of any unreleased compositions.

READ: Hipgnosis Songs acquires entire catalogue of Jimmy Iovine

Starting his music career in the early 70s, Buckingham released his debut album ‘Buckingham Nicks’ in 1973 with his then partner, Stevie Nicks.

Following ‘Buckingham Nicks’, the duo joined Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Christine McVie to create the most famous version of Fleetwood Mac.

In 1975, Fleetwood Mac released their self-titled album which launched the band to musical stardom.

The album, which reached Number 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart, was ranked 182nd by Rolling Stone Magazine on its “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” chart, and has been certified 7 times platinum in the US.

Buckingham’s second album with Fleetwood Mac, ‘Rumours’, has sold over 45mln copies worldwide making it one of the nine bestselling albums of all time.

Fleetwood Mac has more than 22mln monthly listeners on Spotify alone and Buckingham’s four songs from ‘Rumours’ have collectively been streamed more than 1bn times on that service alone.

As a member of Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and in 2011 was listed in Rolling Stone Magazine’s ‘100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time’.

In addition to his work with the band, Buckingham has released five solo albums including ‘Out of the Cradle’, ‘Under the Skin’, ‘Gift of Screws’ and ‘Seeds We Sow’.

“Lindsey Buckingham is one of the greatest guitarists, songwriters and producers of all time yet is still so underrated,” said Merck Mercuriadis, founder of the company, in a statement.

“His work with Fleetwood Mac has brought the world unparalleled joy over the last 45 years and he belongs in any discussion featuring Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney.”