Hipgnosis Songs Buys Nirvana, Aerosmith Mixing Engineer Andy Wallace’s Royalties
Hipgnosis Songs continues its splurge, this time snapping up the catalog of Grammy Award-winning producer, mixer and engineer Andy Wallace.
Hipgnosis Songs continues its splurge, this time snapping up the royalties of Grammy Award-winning producer, mixer and engineer Andy Wallace.
The hitmaking music man has worked with many of the biggest names in rock, from Aerosmith to Blink-182, Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Linkin Park, Guns N’ Roses, Jeff Buckley, Paul McCartney, Prince and more.
Since launching his career in the 1980s, he’s earned credits on albums with more than 120 million sales, including Nirvana’s Nevermind, Jeff Buckley’s debut Grace and Rage Against The Machine’s self-titled LP.
Over time, Wallace has notched seven Grammy nominations, winning best engineered album (non-classical) in 1998 for The Globe Sessions, and shaped some of the most recognizable songs of all time.
Wallace had his first major hit back in 1986 when he mixed and engineered the Run D.M.C. vs Aerosmith song “Walk This Way.” The iconic rap-meets-rock crossover hit peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has chalked up nearly 150 million streams.
Hipgnosis Songs acquires 100% of the producer, mixer and performance royalties in Wallace’s catalog, which spans 17,242 songs and includes 78 No. 1s.
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Billboard estimates the value of Wallace’s catalog at between $12 and $14 million based on a projected three-year revenue average of $790,000 annually at a 15-18 times multiple.
According to a Hipgnosis statement issued to the London Stock Exchange, Wallace’s revenue in 2020 topped $874,000, up from $784,000 in 2019, with the bulk of that money generated in the U.S. (60%).
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“The records that I have worked on and the incredible artists that I have had the opportunity to work with throughout my career are very dear to me,” Wallace says in the statement announcing his new arrangement. With Hipgnosis and its founder Merck Mercuriadis, he continues, “I’m fully confident that this substantial body of my work will be in the best of hands moving forward.”
Wallace is represented by Mark Beaven and Andy Kipnes at Advanced Alternative Media, Inc.
The acquisitive Hipgnosis has recently bought the rights of producers Jimmy Iovine and Bob Rock, Colombian singer Shakira and rock legends Neil Young and Lindsey Buckingham, among others, and reportedly landed the Red Hot Chili Peppers song catalog in a deal said to be worth $140 million to $150 million.
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