By Leah Montebello
Brookfield Asset Management have snapped up the copyright to a flurry of hit songs, including Whitney Houston’s hit songs “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” and “How Will I Know”.
According to reports from the Financial Times, the firm bought about 60 songs written by Shannon Rubicam and George Merrill, the pair behind the two Houston smash hits and the 80s hit “Waiting For A Star To Fall” by Boy Meets Girl, for an estimated $50m-$100m.
It comes after the asset firm agreed a $2bn strategic partnership deal with Primary Wave Music,the private music publishing and talent management company, in a bid to grow its catalogue.
“The new funding from Brookfield, as well as their assistance on future growth initiatives and transaction structuring, will strengthen Primary Wave’s financial positioning as brand manager of legendary and iconic songs,” Primary Wave said in a statement.
The news comes as a number of vehicles continue to snap up music rights.
Music investment firm Hipgnosis owns hundreds of catalogues, with over 64,000 songs, from the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, Shakira and 50 Cent. Mercuriadis is the former manager to Sir Elton John and Beyoncé.
Record labels like Universal and Sony Music have also been pushing into space, snapping up the rights to songs byElvis Presley and Bob Dylan respectively.
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