LONDON (CelebrityAccess) – Former Beyoncé and Guns N’ Roses manager Merck Mercuriadis’ Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited has picked up the catalog of Ari Levine, one-third of writing and production group The Smeezingtons and the co-writer of many of Bruno Mars’ biggest hits.
The deal sees Hipgnosis Songs acquire a 100 percent of Levine’s copyright ownership in 76 songs that he wrote or co-wrote, including his full writers share of performance income collected and distributed by Global Music Rights (GMR).
Listed among those songs are Mars’ U.S. No. 1s “Just The Way You Are”, “Grenade”, ‘When I Was Your Man” and “Locked Out of Heaven,” as well chart hits such as “F**k You” by Cee Lo Green, “Billionaire” by Travie McCoy, “Nothin’ On You” by B.o.B. and “One Day” by Matisyahu.
In a statement announcing the company’s latest acquisition, Mercuriadis said: “Ari’s work has resulted in some of the most highly regarded and enduring songs of the last 10 years. He has everyone’s respect and I’m delighted to welcome him to the Hipgnosis family.”
Levine added: “Merck and Hipgnosis are the right executive and company team to look after my musical legacy. I’m proud to have my catalogue in their hands and I’m confident in their ability to grow its value and influence in the upcoming decades.”
The songwriter’s brother and manager Josh Levine said: “After searching high and low for the right partner, it’s refreshing to find a company like Hipgnosis that not only says what they are going to do but actually follows through with it. I’m excited to have Merck looking over Ari’s catalogue and I’m sure he will care for it like I have over these past 10 years.”
Hipgnosis’ deal for Levine’s catalog is the company’s 17th acquisition. The company also holds stakes in the catalogs of Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, The-Dream, Poo Bear, Chic co-founder Bernard Edwards, Teddy Geiger, Itaal Shur, and Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart among others.
