Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, the publicly-traded acquisition vehicle set up by Merck Mercuriadis (pictured), has acquired a music catalog from American songwriter, producer and singer Brittany Hazzard, aka Starrah.
Starrah’s songs have achieved 94 No.1, 199 Top 5 and 277 Top 10 Chart positions globally.
Starrah co-wrote Camila Cabello’s global smash hit Havana, which together with the subsequent remix version with Spanish lyrics from Daddy Yankee, reached No.1 in 95 countries.
In June 2018, Havana became Spotify‘s most-streamed song ever by a solo female artist, with 888 million streams.
Across all providers, it has now been streamed over 2.6 billion times globally and was globally the best-selling digital single of 2018.
In addition, the catalog includes Maroon 5’s Girls Like You, which was No.1 in the US Billboard Hot 100.
Girls Like You spent 33 weeks in the Top 10 in the US and reached No.1 in 11 countries, including Canada and New Zealand. The song was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 2019 Grammy Awards.
Starrah also wrote five songs for Calvin Harris’s UK No.2 album Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1, including the UK No.1 single Feels featuring Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry & Big Sean, and three songs for Travis Scott’s US No.1 album Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight, including the US two times platinum single Pick Up The Phone featuring Young Thug and Quavo.
The catalog includes a total of 14 US singles that have reached the Top 20 in the Billboard Hot 100 including Rihanna’s Needed Me; Drake’s Fake Love; Halsey’s Now or Never; and Nicki Minaj’s No Frauds.
“Starrah is at the forefront of today’s song writing revolution.”
Merck Mercuriadis
Merck Mercuriadis said: “Starrah is at the forefront of today’s song writing revolution.
“She is taking pop artistry to new heights of success, as evidenced by the exquisite Havana which is already an evergreen hit and Girls Like You the longest charting No.1 radio song of the century.
“I’m delighted to welcome her and her manager Nick Jarjour to the Hipgnosis Family.”
“I am excited to be offered a seat on Hipgnosis’ Advisory Board and look forward to creating opportunities for the next generation of hitmakers.”
Starrah
Starrah added: “The songwriter community is often overlooked and undervalued so I am thrilled to do this prestigious deal with Merck that sets a new precedent for songwriters and producers.
“I am excited to be offered a seat on Hipgnosis’ Advisory Board and look forward to creating opportunities for the next generation of hitmakers.”
“Merck is a visionary and this legendary deal is a fresh approach to empowering Starrah, this generation’s legacy hitmaker.”
Nick Jarjour
Nick Jarjour said: “I am proud to announce this partnership with Hipgnosis and Starrah.
“Merck is a visionary and this legendary deal is a fresh approach to empowering Starrah, this generation’s legacy hitmaker.
“I am pleased to join the advisory board and looking forward to all the new opportunities to come.”
On April 12 Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd announced that it has raised gross proceeds worth over £141.5m ($185m).
The company recently bought rights to No.1 songs by Usher, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey and Mary J. Blige.
Hipgnosis has also previously acquired stakes in catalogs created by songwriters such as Giorgio Tuinfort (David Guetta), Teddy Geiger (Shawn Mendes), The-Dream (Justin Bieber, Rihanna), Poo Bear (Chris Brown, Justin Bieber), Itaal Shur (Santana), Bernard Edwards (Chic), Tricky Stewart (Rihanna, Beyoncé) and TMS (Jess Glynne, Little Mix).Music Business Worldwide
