Hipgnosis inks deal with hit songwriter Starrah
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited NPV
91.90p
17:15 19/04/24
Hipgnosis Songs Fund has acquired a music catalogue from Brittany Hazzard, or ‘Starrah’ - an American songwriter, producer and singer whose songs have achieved 94 number one, 199 top five and 277 top 10 chart positions globally - it announced on Tuesday.
The London-listed specialist fund said Starrah co-wrote Camila Cabello's 'Havana', which was the IFPI global Number 1 Song of 2018.
It said the song, together with the subsequent remix version with Spanish lyrics from Daddy Yankee, reached number one in 95 countries.
In June last year, Havana became Spotify's most-streamed song ever by a solo female artist, with 888 million streams.
Across all providers, it had now been streamed more than 2.6 billion times, and was the best-selling digital single globally in 2018.
In addition, the catalogue included Maroon 5's 'Girls Like You', which was number one in the US Billboard Hot 100.
Hipgnosis said 'Girls Like You' spent 33 weeks in the top 10 in the US, and reached number one in 11 countries, including Canada and New Zealand.
The song was nominated for ‘Best Pop Duo/Group Performance’ at the 2019 Grammy Awards.
Starrah also wrote five songs for Calvin Harris' UK number two album 'Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1', including the UK number one single ‘Feels’ featuring Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry and Big Sean, and three songs for Travis Scott's US number one album 'Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight', including the US two times platinum single 'Pick Up The Phone', featuring Young Thug and Quavo.
The catalogue included a total of 14 US singles that had reached the top 20 in the Billboard Hot 100, including Rihanna's 'Needed Me', Drake's 'Fake Love', Halsey's 'Now or Never', and Nicki Minaj's 'No Frauds'.
“Starrah is at the forefront of today's song writing revolution,” said Merck Mercuriadis, founder of Hipgnosis Songs Fund and its adviser The Family Music.
“She is taking pop artistry to new heights of success, as evidenced by the exquisite 'Havana' which is already an evergreen hit and 'Girls Like You', the longest charting number 1 radio song of the century.
“I'm delighted to welcome her and her manager Nick Jarjour to the Hipgnosis family.”
Starrah added that the songwriter community was often “overlooked and undervalued”, adding she was “thrilled” with the deal, which in her view set a new precedent for songwriters and producers.
“I am excited to be offered a seat on Hipgnosis' advisory board and look forward to creating opportunities for the next generation of hitmakers.”