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HIPGNOSIS BUYS MUSIC CATALOG FROM PRODUCER DION ‘NO I.D’ WILSON

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HIPGNOSIS BUYS MUSIC CATALOG FROM JAY-Z, KANYE WEST PRODUCER DION ‘NO I.D’ WILSON


Merck Mercuriadis
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Hipgnosis Songs has acquired the music royalty catalog of songwriter-producer No I.D. (Ernest “Dion” Wilson), best known for his work with Jay-Z, Kanye West, Rihanna, Usher, Common Drake, Alica Keys, Ed Sheeran, Big Sean and Common, the company announced early Thursday. Hipgnosis has acquired 100% of the artist’s worldwide copyrights and publishing royalties, including writer’s share of income in the catalog, which comprises 273 songs.

That catalog includes such hits as “Run This Town” by Jay-Z featuring Kanye West and Rihanna, “Holy Grail” by Jay-Z featuring Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z’s “The Story of O.J.,” Drake’s “Find Your Love,” West’s “Black Skinhead,” “Bound 2,” “Dark Fantasy,” “Gorgeous,” “So Appalled” and “Heartless,” and Sheeran’s “Kiss Me.”

Hipgnosis Songs Founder Merck Mercuriadis said: “The words NO I.D. are a stamp of excellence on any album. From Kanye West’s ‘808s & Heartbreak’, ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ and ‘Yeezus’ to Jay-Z’s astonishing run from ‘American Gangster’ through ‘The Blueprint 3’, ‘Magna Carta Holy Grail’ and ‘4:44’, Dion has been in the middle of everything that is great about Hip Hop for more than two decades. He is a special creator and everyone in the Hipgnosis Family is proud to have him standing next to us.”

Hipgnosis Songs recently released its annual report, which showed its revenues soaring in its first full year of business, climbing to $81 million in the 12 month period ended in March 2020 from around $8.9 million in the preceding period. The firm, which has been on an unprecedented acquisition binge of hit songwriter and producer catalogs — been buying up catalogs by hitmakers ranging from Timbaland and Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart to Jack Antonoff and Jeff Bhasker — began trading on the London Stock Exchange in July of 2018. Between March 2019 and March 2020, the company spent nearly $700 million to acquire 42 catalogs.

In the report, Mercuriadis notes, “When compared with the three major song companies, we have achieved between 7% and 12.5% of their revenue on between 0.5% and 0.9% of their number of songs.” This is a result of the group’s highly selective investments, which he summarizes in the report thus: “All of our songs have a proven track record and we do not speculate on new songs regardless of the past performance of the songwriter, producer or artist. These proven hit Songs produce reliable, predictable and uncorrelated cash flows which are highly investible.”

Hipgnosis Songs recently released its annual report, which showed its revenues soaring in its first full year of business, climbing to $81 million in the 12 month period ended in March 2020 from around $8.9 million in the preceding period. The firm, which has been on an unprecedented acquisition binge of hit songwriter and producer catalogs — been buying up catalogs by hitmakers ranging from Timbaland and Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart to Jack Antonoff and Jeff Bhasker — began trading on the London Stock Exchange in July of 2018. Between March 2019 and March 2020, the company spent nearly $700 million to acquire 42 catalogs.

In the report, Mercuriadis notes, “When compared with the three major song companies, we have achieved between 7% and 12.5% of their revenue on between 0.5% and 0.9% of their number of songs.” This is a result of the group’s highly selective investments, which he summarizes in the report thus: “All of our songs have a proven track record and we do not speculate on new songs regardless of the past performance of the songwriter, producer or artist. These proven hit Songs produce reliable, predictable and uncorrelated cash flows which are highly investible.”





Hipgnosis has acquired 100% of the artist’s worldwide copyrights and publishing royalties, including writer’s share of income, in the catalog which comprises 273 songs.

No I.D. has achieved success with artists including Kanye West, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Usher, Rihanna, Common, Drake and Ed Sheeran.

Considered the Godfather of Chicago hip hop, No I.D. rose to fame in the early 1990s with the production of Common’s hip hop classic album, Resurrection, including the ode to hip-hop I Used to Love H.E.R. and US Top 25 The Dreamer/The Believer.

His songs and productions have collectively been streamed more than 7 billion times and his catalog includes some of the most successful songs of hip hop culture, including: 2x platinum certified Run This Town by Jay-Z featuring Kayne West and Rihanna (300 million streams); 4x platinum certified Holy Grail by Jay-Z featuring Justin Timberlake (400 million streams); Jay-Z’s gold certified The Story of O.J. (30 million streams); Drake’s 3x platinum certified Find Your Love (150 million streams); Kanye West’s platinum certified Black Skinhead (600 million streams), Bound 2 (300 million streams), Dark Fantasy (200 million streams), the gold certified Gorgeous (200 million streams), So Appalled (100 million streams) and 6x platinum certified Heartless (500 million streams); and 2x platinum certified Kiss Me by Ed Sheeran (500 million streams).

In 2007, No I.D. began his collaboration with Jay-Z, co-writing / producing songs off his US No.1 and platinum certified album American Gangster.


Merck Mercuriadis, Founder of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited and The Family (Music) Limited, said: “The words NO I.D. are a stamp of excellence on any album.

“From Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Yeezus to Jay-Z’s astonishing run from American Gangster through The Blueprint 3, Magna Carta Holy Grail and 4:44, Dion has been in the middle of everything that is great about Hip Hop for more than two decades.

“He is a special creator and everyone in the Hipgnosis Family is proud to have him standing next to us.”

No I.D. added: “Not many have the best intentions for the artist and the creators.

“Merck and the Hipgnosis team have shown that they are a safe home for the songs that score our lives.”

Hipgnosis’ share price has recently been boosted by the news that it has acquired catalogs and/or royalty streams from the likes of Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins, Barry Manilow and Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein.

Last month, the company also acquired a range of songs and recorded music interests from Lady Gaga collaborator RedOne.Music Business Worldwide
 
Interesting.

But they don't say how much money No I.D. received.

I guess you could argue that it's better to get the money in one lump sum rather than wait every quarter for royalty payments, even if the quarterly payments add up to more money in the long run.

But if he sold his catalog for any less than $100M then he made a big mistake imo.
 
As a fellow producer I look up to No I.D. alot for his skill of making any genre of music sound full, cinematic, and emotional. Dude deserve everything good that comes his way and is music Icon that rarely get his flowers. Hope to meet him someday and pick his brain.
 
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