Leonard Cohen becomes the latest in an ever-growing list of catalog acquisitions by songwriting investment firm Hipgnosis. The estate of the late rocker poet has sold his entire songwriting catalog – somewhere in the direction of 270 songs – to the song fund for an undisclosed sum.

The sale includes Cohenof 127 songs in his “Stranger Music” catalog, covering everything from the start of his career until 2000. This includes some of his most famous works, including “Hallelujah”, “First We Take Manhattan” and “So Long, Marianne”. ‘.

Along with that, the fund also acquired the publisher and songwriter‘s share of Cohen’s “Old Ideas” catalog, which encompasses everything written from 2001 until his death in 2016.

“Being the stewards and stewards of Leonard Cohen’s matchless songs now is a wonderful but very serious responsibility that we approach with enthusiasm and fully understand the importance of,” Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis said in a statement.

“Leonard wrote words and songs that changed our lives, none more evident than ‘Hallelujah’ but there are so many more that we can’t wait to remind the world of on a daily basis. He is revered in the worldwide because of the scope of his work.

hipgnosis was founded by former artist manager Mercuriadis and Chic’s Nile Rodgers. Last year, the London-based company made headlines after making multi-million acquisitions for classic catalogs such as Fleetwood Mac’s. Lindsey Buckingham, blonde and Neil Young.

During the lockdown, the company spent around $1 billion on “reliable hits”, taking advantage of the pandemic-fueled surge in streaming.

“While we never wished for a pandemic, it not only demonstrated the predictable, reliable, and uncorrelated nature of proven song revenue, but also accelerated the shift in consumer behavior towards music streaming consumption,” Mercuriadis said. music week.

With an impressive portfolio of legacy hits as well as more recent works – for example, Shakira‘Hips Don’t Lie’ and Beyonce‘s ‘Single Ladies’ – Hipgnosis relies on well-founded leads for a significant portion of their revenue. 60% of their total portfolio are songs released 10 or more years ago.