REG - Hipgnosis Songs Fund - Acquisition of Music Catalogues

Hipgnosis Songs FundAnnouncement

11/09/2020 07:05

RNS Number : 7267Y
  
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited
  
11 September 2020
  
 

11 September 2020
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited ("Hipgnosis" or the "Company")
Acquisition of Music Catalogues
The Board of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, the first and only UK listed investment company offering investors a pure-play exposure to songs and associated intellectual property rights, and its Investment Adviser, The Family (Music) Limited, are pleased to announce that the Company has acquired the music catalogue of Chrissie Hynde, founding member, lead vocalist and primary song writer of pioneering rock band The Pretenders.
Chrissie Hynde is widely regarded as one of the most important, influential and iconic singer songwriters of all time.
With The Pretenders, Chrissie Hynde wrote a catalogue of timeless hit songs which both remain popular and continue to be covered by new artists to this day including 'Brass in Pocket', 'Talk of the Town', 'Message of Love', 'Back on the Chain Gang', 'Middle of the Road', '2000 Miles', 'Don't Get Me Wrong', 'My Baby' and 'I'll Stand By You'. 
Forming in 1978 The Pretenders immediately achieved commercial and critical success with their self-titled debut album reaching Number 1 of the UK Albums Chart the week of its release. The album is widely regarded as one of the greatest debut albums of all time and has achieved commercial success in both the UK, reaching Number 1 for four consecutive weeks, and the US where it is certified platinum.  The album included the single 'Brass in Pocket' which was The Pretenders first UK Number 1 single in 1980. 
The Pretenders have in total released 11 albums including,  the just released,  'Hate For Sale'. After the success of their debut, a further four of them albums are platinum or gold certified including 'Pretenders II', which reached the Top 10 in both the UK and US albums chart; 'Learning to Crawl', which included the hit lead single '2000 Miles' and 'Middle Of The Road'; 'Get Close' which included two US Number 1 Mainstream Rock singles with 'Don't Get Me Wrong' and 'My Baby'; and 'Last Of The Independents' which included the group's most streamed single 'I'll Stand By You'.
Chrissie Hynde has written some of the most progressive and influential songs in the rock world for The Pretenders including:
·    'Brass in Pocket' which was the band's first UK Number 1 in 1980 and has been streamed over 200 million times.
·    'Back on the Chain Gang', which has been streamed over 150 million times and was The Pretender's biggest US hit reaching Number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Number 4 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The Song was covered by legendary British singer songwriter Morrissey in 2008 calling the song "a pop classic, of the brain as well as the loins".
 
·    'Don't Get Me Wrong', which has been streamed over 150 million times and was the group's second Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as reaching Number 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. The song was also a  UK Top 10 hit in the singles chart.
·    Their hit Christmas Song '2000 Miles' which has been streamed over 100 million times.
·    'I'll Stand by You' which reached the Top 20 in several countries and has been streamed over 250 million times. 'I'll Stand By You' re-entered the charts with Girls Aloud in 2004, reaching Number 1 in the UK, and with American country singer Carrie Underwood, reaching Number 6 of the Billboard Hot 100.
Chrissie Hynde continues to release incredible albums and to tour globally with The Pretenders, performing these timeless hits to their ever-growing and evolving fan base. Whilst their tour schedule for May 2020 has been postponed due to COVID-19 certain dates have been rescheduled to September 2021.
Hipgnosis have acquired 100% of Chrissie's music publishing catalogue of 164 songs including Publishing and Writer's Share (PRS) from the Pretenders and her other projects.
Chrissie Hynde was represented by manager Ian Grenfell at Quietus Management , lawyer Andrew Myers at Clintons and accountant Pat Savage at YMU.
Merck Mercuriadis, Founder of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited and The Family (Music) Limited, said: 
"This is very personal for me. Chrissie is one of my favorite songwriters of all time and The Pretenders are one of my favorite bands of all time. Her importance  cannot be over estimated and she has been a powerful role model for women and men all over the globe for 40 years. I'm proud to say I have been a vegetarian, now vegan for 35 years thanks to the influence of Chrissie  and as a result I have four grown children that have never had meat pass through them. That's the power of great songs and music when combined with genuine integrity. She has this powerful effect on her audience which is why they remain so devoted and committed after 40 years and why new generations of fans are constantly attracted to her. I'm delighted to welcome her and her wonderful songs to the Hipgnosis family."
 
For further information, please contact:



The Family (Music) Limited
Merck Mercuriadis
 


Tel: +44 (0)1481 742742




N+1 Singer - Joint Corporate Broker
James Maxwell / James Moat (Corporate Finance)
Alan Geeves / James Waterlow / Sam Greatrex (Sales)
 


Tel: +44 (0)20 7496 3000




J.P. Morgan Cazenove - Joint Corporate Broker
William Simmonds / Jérémie Birnbaum (Corporate Finance)
James Bouverat (Sales)
 


Tel: +44 (0)20 7742 4000




Ocorian - Company Secretary & Administrator
Mariana Enevoldsen
 


Tel: +44 (0) 1481 742614




The Outside Organisation
Alan Edwards / Nick Caley


Tel: +44 (0)7711 081 843




 
FTI Consulting
Neil Doyle/ Paul Harris/ Laura Ewart
 


 
Tel: +44 (0)7771 978220; +44 (0)7809 411882; +44 (0)7761 332646
 




All US music publicity enquiries
Fran Defeo


+1 917 767 5255



 
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited
(www.hipgnosissongs.com)
Hipgnosis, which was founded by Merck Mercuriadis, is a Guernsey registered investment company established to offer investors a pure-play exposure to songs and associated musical intellectual property rights. The Company has raised a total of over £860 million (gross equity capital) through its Initial Public Offering on 11 July 2018, and subsequent issues in April 2019, August 2019, October 2019 and July 2020. In September 2019, Hipgnosis transferred its entire issued share capital to the Premium listing segment of the Official List of the FCA and to the London Stock Exchange's Premium segment of the Main Market.
About The Family (Music) Limited
The Company's Investment Adviser is The Family (Music) Limited, which was founded by Merck Mercuriadis, former manager of globally successful recording artists, such as Elton John, Guns N' Roses, Morrissey, Iron Maiden and Beyoncé, and hit songwriters such as Diane Warren, Justin Tranter and The-Dream, and former CEO of The Sanctuary Group plc. The Investment Adviser has assembled an Advisory Board of highly successful music industry experts which include award winning members of the artist, songwriter, publishing, legal, financial, recorded music and music management communities, all with in-depth knowledge of music publishing.   Members of The Family (Music) Limited Advisory Board include Nile Rodgers, The-Dream, Giorgio Tuinfort, Starrah, Nick Jarjour, David Stewart, Bill Leibowitz, Ian Montone, Jason Flom, Rodney Jerkins, Bjorn Lindvall and Chris Helm.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.
 
  END
 
 
ACQUASVRRVUKARR