Sony, GIC joint venture looking to buy music catalogue with Justin Bieber songs for almost S$5 billion: Bloomberg

Sony Music is in talks to acquire a music catalogue from private equity giant Blackstone that includes works of Justin Bieber and Neil Young, people familiar with the matter reportedly told Bloomberg.

The record company is negotiating to acquire Recognition Music Group, a music asset portfolio owned by Blackstone.

Recognition owns or manages the rights to more than 45,000 songs.

Joint venture

The acquisition is said to be through a joint venture with Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, which will pay between US$3.5 billion and US$4 billion (S$3.8 billion and S$5.07 billion).

It was previously announced in January 2026 that the music company and GIC were forming a joint venture to acquire the copyright for various music catalogues.

The music division of Sony Group will manage the acquired catalogues, handling distribution to streaming services and licensing older songs for use in films and commercials.

Meanwhile, GIC is providing capital and investment expertise.

Bloomberg mentioned that Sony and Blackstone both declined comment, but did not note if it contacted GIC for comment.

Music rights

Bieber had previously sold his music to Hipgnosis Song Management for a reported US$200 million.

This included more than 290 titles released before the end of 2021.

Hipgnosis later became Recognition Music Group.

Major music companies like Sony had responded to competition from financial buyers like Blackstone by establishing joint ventures with investors to acquire catalogues, Bloomberg said.

Buying songs through these vehicles allows the companies to acquire assets at higher prices without stretching their own finances as much.