Music royalties firm Hipgnosis to float as streaming takes off

A music royalties fund advised by guitarist Nile Rodgers is tuning up for a float next month as it hopes to cash in on the music-streaming revolution.

Hipgnosis Songs Fund is raising £200 million to snap up rights to songs by artists and make money from royalties.

The fund, which will list on the main market in two weeks, will be run by Merck Mercuriadis, the former manager of artists such as Sir Elton John, Beyoncé and Morrissey, and aims to pay out a 6.5% dividend yield.

Hipgnosis Songs’ advisory board includes Rodgers, the guitarist from Chic who rocked Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage yesterday.

Mercuriadis said music streaming is “still in its infancy”.

“[Vinyl records] started to get adopted very quickly but it’s not until The Beatles’ break-up in 1970 that you realise what a tremendous business this had become. And I think we’re in the same place with streaming right now,” he said.