Influence Media Partners, a music and entertainment fund dedicated to investing in the recording and publishing rights of songs, with an emphasis on female artists and songwriters, has acquired a portfolio of select copyrights from the catalog of Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Julia Michaels, it was announced today.
The acquisition includes Michaels’ publishing stake in songs performed by Selena Gomez (“Bad Liar,” “Hands To Myself”), Justin Bieber (“Sorry”), Ed Sheeran (“Dive”), Janelle Monae (“Make Me Feel”), Nick Jonas (“Close” with Tove Lo), Hailee Steinfeld (“Love Myself”), P!nk (“Barbies”), Linkin Park (“Heavy” with Kiiara), Gwen Stefani (“Used To Love You”), Britney Spears (“Do You Wanna Come Over?”), Fifth Harmony (“All In My Head [Flex]” with Fetty Wap) and Maroon 5 (“Help Me Out”).
Also included are Michaels’ publishing stakes in several of her songs as a solo artist, including “Issues,” “I Miss You” (with Clean Bandit), “Carry Me” (with Kygo) and “Friends” (with Justin Bieber and BloodPop).
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Michaels acquisition is the second from Influence Media’s music fund with the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (MERS of Michigan), which boasts $100 million in initial capital to invest in the recording and publishing rights of commercially proven songs. Its first joint acquisition, of select copyrights from songwriter Ali Tamposi’s catalog, was announced in April.
“Like Carole King, Sia and Bruno Mars before her, Julia Michaels belongs in the pantheon of great songwriters who can write classics for themselves as well as other artists,” said Lylette Pizarro, founder and co-managing partner of Influence Media, in a statement. “We’ve wanted to be in business with Julia since the days we were first founded in 2018, and are thrilled that her team took a chance on us in what was a very competitive deal-making process.”
Added Michaels, “I’m excited to team up with Lylette, Lynn and the Influence Media team to put some of my favorite songs from the first chapter of my career into the trusted hands of two badass female execs. I’m excited and proud that my music will continue to touch new people for years to come through their expertise.”
Michaels signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group in February. Her full-length debut album, Not In Chronological Order, was released April 30.
“Even in 2021, it’s extremely rare in the music business to work with an all-female team on a deal of this magnitude on both sides of the table,” added Lynn Hazan, co-managing partner of Influence Media. “Working with Julia, her manager Beka Tischker, her attorney Renee Karalian and our counsel Lisa Alter to bring this partnership to life has been a delight every step of the way. Julia is one of the most influential artists of the past decade, and we couldn’t be more honored to be entrusted with her fantastic catalog.”
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