For a story as turbulent as the industry-shaking Hipgnosis Songs Fund, the ending turned out to be surprisingly calm.
Justice – Hyperdrama ALBUM REVIEW
To recap, Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF) was the ambitious management company built on founder Merck Mercuriadis’ belief that songs could be investments as good as gold. The company burst onto the scene in 2018 with lavish backing, an impressive debut on the London Stock Exchange, and triple-A music catalog acquisitions with eye-catching price tags.
For a while, it seemed that Mercuriadis' dream of turning music publishing into a place where anyone, especially artists, could make a lot of money, was coming true.
Today, the dream remains the same. On July 9, nearly all HSF investors voted to complete the $1.6 billion sale to asset manager Blackstone. Mercuriadis, meanwhile, is out of the picture altogether after stepping down as chairman of HSF investment advisor Hipgnosis Song Management (HSM) earlier this month, just five months after stepping down as CEO. HSF will go private and delist from the London Stock Exchange at the end of this month.
