Gloomy mood music reigns at Hipgnosis Songs Fund after dividend ditched
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A music fund that owns the rights to back catalogues by artists including Justin Bieber and Shakira has seen its shares plunge after scrapping its shareholder dividend payout and warning over lower-than-expected earnings from US streaming royalties. Shares in Hipgnosis Songs Fund tumbled as much as 22% at one stage to an all-time low before settling around 11% down after it said it had “materially reduced” its forecast for industry-wide payments following a ruling last year by the US Copyright Royalties Board. Sadly, its 15 minutes of fame has gone up in smoke amid accusations of poor corporate governance, a disastrous attempt to sell some assets at a big discount to a private fund which its adviser also manages, and now a dividend crisis Russ Mould, AJ Bell Future dividends will depend on the “satisfactory conclusion” of these discussions, according to the group. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “Sadly, its 15 minutes of fame has gone up in smoke amid accusations of poor corporate governance, a disastrous attempt to sell some assets at a big discount to a private fund which its adviser also manages, and now a dividend crisis.
History of this topic
Hipgnosis founder quits amid plans to ‘spend time’ backing songwriters over pay
The Independent
Hipgnosis hopes to entice bidders for song catalogues with £20m payment
The Independent
Hipgnosis delays financial results over concerns songs are being under-valued
The Independent
Hipgnosis considers management shake-up ahead of crunch vote on future
The Independent
Hipgnosis hits the right note with earnings as fans stream more music
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