Hipgnosis Songs Fund has acquired a music catalog from hit songwriter and producer Savan Kotecha.
Savan Kotecha has been awarded nine BMI Awards and 18 ASCAP awards whilst his songs have sold more than 375 million copies globally as he has collaborated – often with Max Martin – on No.1 and platinum hits with Ariana Grande, One Direction, Usher, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Britney Spears and Katy Perry.
In addition, his work with The Weeknd includes co-writing the two times Grammy Award nominated US No.1 Can’t Feel My Face which has been certified 7x platinum in the US.
London-based Hipgnosis, led by Merck Mercuriadis (pictured), has acquired 100% of Savan Kotecha’s worldwide copyrights on this catalog which consists of 49 of his songs and includes nine new songs due for release in 2020 by Camila Cabello, Ellie Goulding and Sam Smith.
Today’s news comes only a couple of days after the UK-based company confirmed details of catalog acquisitions from Johnny McDaid, Jack Antonoff and others.
JPMorgan estimates that 80% of Hipgnosis’ £23m revenues in the six months to end of September came from 143 songs, equivalent to just 1.3% of the company’s current catalog of 11,225 compositions.
Savan Kotecha is best known for his work with Ariana Grande, the fourth most streamed artist on Spotify of the 2010s.
Since initially producing Ariana Grande’s second album My Everything, which reached No.1 in the US where it was certified 2x platinum, as well as co-writing the 6x US platinum certified lead single Problem, Savan Kotecha worked as executive producer on her third album, the UK No.1 ‘Dangerous Woman’ as well as collaborating on 13 US or UK Number 1 or platinum certified singles.
The catalog includes four songs co-written by Savan Kotecha from Ariana Grande’s album Sweetener which won the Grammy Award for “Best Pop Vocal Album”, reached No.1 of the album charts in 22 countries including the US and UK going on to be declared by Billboard as the No.1 album of 2018 and one of the top albums of the 2010s and is certified platinum in the US.
These included the album’s first single No Tears Left to Cry which reached No.1 on 14 charts globally and is certified 3x platinum in the US and 2x platinum in the UK having been streamed over 780m times on Spotify alone, as well as the singles God Is A Woman and Breathin.
God Is A Woman, which was nominated for the Grammy Award for “Best Pop Solo Performance”, reached No.1 on four charts globally and is certified 2x platinum in the US and platinum in the UK having been streamed over 510m times on Spotify alone, whilst Breathin reached Top 10 of 18 charts globally and is certified gold in the UK having been streamed over 380m times on Spotify.
The catalog also includes four songs on her fifth album Thank U, Next which has been nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album at the Grammy Awards and reached No.1 in 15 countries including the US where it is certified platinum.
This included the single Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored which reached No.2 in the US and No.1 in the UK where it is certified platinum and has been streamed over 483m times on Spotify alone.
The catalog also includes Camila Cabello’s My Oh My from her new No.1 album Romance, Ellie Goulding’s Close To Me, Diplo and Swae Lee which is gold and platinum globally, James Arthur’s Naked which has been streamed over 300m times on Spotify, Sam Smith’s How Do You Sleep which peaked at No.7 on the UK singles chart and is certified gold in both the US and UK and The Weeknd’s Rockin’ which reached No.4 in the UK R&B chart as well as songs performed by Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake and Gwen Stefani.
Savan Kotecha was represented by Doug Davis at The Davis Firm.
Merck Mercuriadis, Founder of The Family (Music) Limited and Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, said: “Savan is a special songwriter with a Midas touch.
“His magical songs have helped propel Ariana Grande into one of the most influential artists of her generation. This is a sensational set of songs and bear out why he’s just been voted Songwriter Of The Year for 2019.
“I’m delighted to welcome Savan into the Hipgnosis family and am very excited to be working with him and Doug Davis.”
Savan Kotecha added: “I’m beyond excited for my songs to join the incredible Hipgnosis catalogue. I know my ‘babies’ will be well taken care of.
“Merck and his team have proven that they are true lovers of music and understand not just the monetary value of songs but the cultural value as well. I can’t wait to see what the future holds!”
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