Hipgnosis’s back-catalogue spending pays off in pandemic

The firm’s strength in old songs has seen revenues up by two-thirds after streaming saw a huge boost in lockdown

If there was a soundtrack to the annual results for Hipgnosis next week, Hey Big Spender would be perfect. In a deal-making flurry aimed at capitalising on a surge in music listening during the pandemic, the music rights owner has over the past year spent $1bn (£710m) on evergreen hit songs, buying the rights to 84 song catalogues by artists ranging from Neil Young to Shakira.

Its entire catalogue, which also includes songs by Beyoncé, Blondie, Barry Manilow and more, is worth $2.2bn following that spree.