Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited acquires entire catalogue of Jimmy

On Jan 11, 2021

The record producer has worked with John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith and Eminem among others

Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited (LON:SONG) said it has acquired the entire music catalogue of Jimmy Iovine, a record producer in the 70’s and 80’s and “one of the most important record executives and music entrepreneurs of all time”.

The music investor has bought 100% of Jimmy Iovine’s catalogue of worldwide producer royalties for an undisclosed sum, comprising 259 songs and his film production royalties for ‘8 Mile’ and ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’.

READ: Hipgnosis Songs contemplates equity raise to fund £1bn acquisition pipeline

Jimmy Iovine rose to prominence as an engineer working with John Lennon for ‘Walls & Bridges’ and ‘Rock & Roll’ and Bruce Springsteen for ‘Born To Run’ and ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’.

In 1978 he produced Patti Smith’s critically acclaimed, ‘Easter’, including 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”.

In the 80’s Jimmy Iovine produced some of the most important albums of the decade including Dire Straits’ ‘Making Movies’, which contained the hit singles ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Tunnel of Love’, and is certified multi-platinum globally.

In 1983 Jimmy Iovine produced U2’s live album and concert film ‘Under a Blood Red Sky’, which was the band’s commercial breakthrough and is multi-platinum all over the world.

Moving away from production in 1990, Jimmy Iovine co-founded Interscope becoming one of the most prominent figures in the music industry, developing the careers of Tupac, Dr Dre and Eminem.

In 2002, Jimmy Iovine co-produced the box office hit ‘8 Mile’ starring Eminem which grossed over US$240mln and sold over 15mln copies globally.

“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,” said Merck Mercuriadis, founder of the company, in a statement.