Neil Young has sold a 50 percent stake in his global publishing and “income interests” for his 1,180 songs to music conglomerate Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, according to Rolling Stone. The news comes a day after it was reported that former-Fleetwood Mac leader Lindsey Buckingham had sold a 100 percent stake of his catalogue to Hipgnosis. No specifics were given regarding the financial aspects of the deal.
Merck Mercuriadis, founder of Hipgnosis, said in a statement, “I bought my first Neil Young album aged seven. Harvest was my companion and I know every note, every word, every pause and silence intimately. Neil Young, or at least his music, has been my friend and constant ever since. . . I built Hipgnosis to be a company Neil would want to be a part of. We have a common integrity, ethos and passion born out of a belief in music and these important songs. There will never be a 'Burger Of Gold' but we will work together to make sure everyone gets to hear them on Neil’s terms.”
Neil Young told us that there's no real pattern to the music he records, and that the songs themselves tell him how things will go: “There's no real logic to it. I may do two rock n' roll albums in a row at some point, or I may do two soft ones in a row, or I may do some different kind of album that everybody wonders what the hell I did that for. I mean, y'know, I could do that. Y'know, it just depends, and there's no plan. I'm just going with the songs. The songs dictate the direction.”
