Leonard Cohen’s estate has sold the entirety of his songwriting catalog to Hipgnosis Songs Fund for an undisclosed sum. According to Rolling Stone, the deal includes all 278 songs penned by Cohen, including popular songs such as ‘Hallelujah’, ‘Suzanne’, ‘So Long, Marianne’, and ‘First We Take Manhattan’.
Hipgnosis Songs has obtained the “songwriter’s share” of 127 songs in Cohen’s “Stranger Music” catalog, which covers everything published from the inception of his career through 2000, as well as an additional 84 derivative works. The firm has also acquired the ownership of 100% of the copyrights, “publisher’s share” and “songwriter’s share” of royalties in the “Old Ideas” catalog, spanning from 2001 until his death in 2016.
“To now be the custodians and managers of Leonard Cohen’s incomparable songs is a wonderful yet very serious responsibility that we approach with excitement and fully understand the importance of,” Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis said in a statement. “Leonard wrote words and songs that have changed our lives, none more so obvious than ‘Hallelujah’ but there are so many more that we look forward to reminding the world of on a daily basis. He is revered all over the globe because of the magnitude of his work.”
Hipgnosis has acquired major publishing catalogs from artists like Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham, Jimmy Iovine, and Neil Young. The firm reached the deal in partnership with Cohen’s family and the late singer’s manager Robert Kory.
“Merck Mercuriadis is unique in the music publishing world with his background as an artist manager,” Kory said in a statement. “We know he cares about artists, and as a Québécois he has a particularly deep appreciation of Leonard’s unique status in popular music. The catalogue is in good hands. The Hipgnosis team has been a pleasure to work with throughout the transaction.”