Hipgnosis Songs Fund has printed its finalized monetary report for the total yr ended March 31, 2021.
As reported final month, the UK-listed agency’s beforehand printed preliminary annual monetary submitting revealed that its catalog has been independently valued at $2.2 billion.
Within the firm’s annual report printed at the moment (July 5), Hipgnosis repeated its headline income numbers from its preliminary outcomes, which confirmed that its web income elevated by 66% within the yr ended March 31, 2021, to $138.4 million, up on the prior yr’s web income determine of $83.3m.
Hipgnosis‘s EBITDA within the 12 months ending March 31, 2021, elevated by 49.8% to $106.7m (up on the $71.2m EBITDA printed the prior yr.)
Elsewhere, Hipgnosis offered an replace on the whole variety of songs in its portfolio, confirming at the moment that it contained 64,098 songs throughout 138 catalogs as at March 31, 2021, a rise of fifty,807 songs and 84 catalogs respectively, year-over-year.
These 84 new catalogs acquired by the corporate within the 12 months to finish of March 2021 have been purchased for an combination buy value of $1.089 billion, the corporate mentioned at the moment.
The corporate’s complete spend on music and catalog acquisitions since its IPO in 2018 is roughly $1.94bn.
Hipgnosis’s catalog acquisitions in the course of the 12 months in query embody Neil Younger, Lindsey Buckingham / Fleetwood Mac, Steve Winwood, Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, and The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde.
“These are Catalogues that I imagine are going to considerably recognize in consumption, income and worth for a very long time to return.”
Merck Mercuriadis, Hipgnosis
Commenting on this sequence of acquisitions in the course of the yr, Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis writes within the introduction for the corporate’s Annual Report printed at the moment (July 5) that, “These are Catalogues that I imagine are going to considerably recognize in consumption, income and worth for a very long time to return, not solely from the expansion in streaming and the narrowing of the low cost charge on account of the knowledge of earnings that it affords, but additionally from our Music Administration and the efficiencies we deliver to collections”.
He added: “Having now grown Hipgnosis to a $1.8 billion market cap FTSE 250 firm and invested nearly $2 billion in iconic songs which might be part of the material of our society, which have simply been independently valued at $2.2 billion, it’s price re-stating our ambitions after we listed three years in the past, which have been to: 1. Set up Songs as an asset class; 2. Use the affect of our Fund and the good Songs in our Catalogue to be a catalyst to alter the place the Songwriter sits within the financial equation for the good thing about the Songwriting group and our Shareholders; and three. To exchange the damaged conventional publishing mannequin with Music Administration and add worth.”
MBW pored over the corporate’s annual report, and pulled out the next stats:
Alexander Shatov
36 songs on Spotify‘s new Billions Membership playlist have had involvement from Hipgnosis songwriters
Inside Hipgnosis’s annual report, the corporate reveals that (as at June 23) it “has 36 out of the 156 Songs” in Spotify’s recently-launched Billions Membership playlist, which comprises all of the tracks which have greater than 1bn streams on the platform.
Amongst Hipgnosis’s tracks showing on the playlist are 5SOS’s Youngblood, by way of Grammy-winner songwriter Andrew Watt, from whom Hipgnosis acquired 105 songs in Could, and Ariana Grande’s No Tears Left To Cry by way of Savan Kotecha (catalog acquired by Hipgnosis in December 2019).
Girl Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s hit Shallow can be on the checklist, by way of Mark Ronson, who bought 70% of his publishing and author’s share curiosity in his catalog, which contains 315 songs, to Hipgnosis in April this yr.
New Guidelines by Dua Lipa can be on the checklist. Written by Ian Kirkpatrick and Caroline Ailin, the observe has now reached 1.54 billion streams on Spotify, making it the third most streamed solo observe by a feminine artist within the platform’s historical past, mentioned Hipgnosis at the moment.
Of these 36 tracks, two have greater than 2bn streams, together with The Chainsmokers’ Nearer (ft. Halsey) by way of Andrew Taggart and Ed Sheeran’s Form Of You by way of Johnny McDaid. On the finish of 2019, Hipgnosis purchased 100% of McDaid’s curiosity in his catalog of songs launched earlier than April 1, 2019 – a complete of 91 compositions.
Hipgnosis owns 3,738 songs which have held No.1 positions in world charts
Hipgnosis studies at the moment that it now owns 3,738 songs which have held No.1 positions in charts world wide.
It additionally owns 13,968 Songs which have held High 10 positions in world charts and 151 Grammy award-winning Songs.
Elsewhere, Hipgnosis studies that seven out of the High 20 Finest Promoting Albums within the UK (based mostly on half yr UK album gross sales as of June 2021) have involvement from Hipgnosis’ Songwriters.
Hipgnosis’ Songwriters are additionally concerned in 4 out of the “High 5 Billboard Songs of the Decade” together with, at No.1, Uptown Funk! by Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars (by way of Mark Ronson and Jeff Bhasker) and at No.3, Ed Sheeran’s Form Of You (by way of Johnny McDaid).
In the meantime, 12 out of Spotify’s High 30 most Performed Songs of all Time and 45 of the High 200, even have involvement from Hipgnosis songwriters.
Streaming is driving Hipgnosis’s income development
The corporate reported at the moment that its revenues from streaming accounted for 32% ($43.65m) of its complete FY2021 web revenues of $138.4 million.
Revenue from streams on Spotify et al elevated by 18.4% throughout all catalogs within the six months to finish of March 31 in comparison with the earlier six-month interval.
Revenue from Hipgnosis’s “regular state” catalogs elevated by 24.3% within the six months to finish of March 31, in comparison with the identical six-month interval in 2020.
Based mostly on world streaming revenues rising 19.9% in the course of the yr, (in accordance with IFPI) Hipgnosis says that its “regular state” catalogs are “outperforming the market development of streaming”.
Hipgnosis additionally states that the “acceleration of fixing client behaviour will result in increased streaming earnings in future years than beforehand anticipated”.
“Music has gone from being a discretionary or luxurious buy to very a lot being a utility.”
Merck Mercuriadis, Hipgnosis
Writing within the introduction for the annual report, Merck Mercuriadis states that, “Music has gone from being a discretionary or luxurious buy to very a lot being a utility.”
He added: “It is a results of the comfort and entry afforded by streaming. You may take heed to every part from Bach to The Beatles and Chopin to Stylish in a single place, it doesn’t take up area in your telephone or pc and you’ve got entry in your house, automobile, the workplace, the seaside and so on. for less than $10 per 30 days or $120 per yr. By the point we get to the top of the last decade it’s predicted we can have 2 billion paid subscribers worldwide.
“Timing is every part and that is the context wherein we’ve established Songs as an asset class. We have now given our loyal buyers entry to a number of the most terribly profitable and culturally necessary songs of all time at some extent when nearly all consumption is now paid for in an business that was beforehand suffering from piracy and unlawful consumption.”Music Enterprise Worldwide
