From the excellent Chartr newsletter: Justin Bieber deserved the $200 million he got for selling the publishing rights and songwriting royalties to his back catalog. He is one of a handful of artists with more than 50 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Bieber's popularity and relevance today, is unquestionable. His 71m monthly listeners are currently enough to place him 6th on the list of Spotify's most widely listened-to artists, edging him ahead of mega-stars like Rihanna (7th), Drake (9th), Billie Eilish (27th) and Adele (40th).
With 8 number-one singles on the Billboard top 100 and 8 number-one albums too, Hipgnosis' $200 million for everything the singer recorded before 2022 is clearly based on a successful track record. Despite that success, Bieber — who burst onto the music scene at just 15 — is seen as a slightly riskier investment than someone like Bruce Springsteen, who sold his rights for a whopping $500 million2 years ago. Any artist with a strong back catalog and proven staying power for 5+ years might now be wondering what they could cash out for.
