Following in the recent footsteps of Lindsey Buckingham and Jimmy Iovine, Neil Young has decided to sell at least a portion of his music catalog to Hipgnosis Song Fund. The deal is reportedly for 1,180 songs that Neil has written or co-written during his career that has spanned decades. The deal is estimated to cost Hipgosis around $150 million. 

Neil Young has famously never sold his music to be used in commercials so this deal might come as a shock. However, Hipgnosis co-founder, Merck Mercuriadis, seems to wanto to continue honoring Young’s music the same way. In a statement he said, “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.”

Merck Mercuriadis also commented on the impact Neil Young’s  music has had on his life:

“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. Over the last 50 years that friendship took me back to Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After The Gold Rush, and guided me forward to On The Beach, Tonight’s The Night, Zuma, Comes A Time, Rust Never Sleeps, Trans, This Note’s For You, Freedom, Ragged Glory, Greendale and through each successive album and on to last year’s Colorado. They’re part of who I am, they’re in many ways responsible for who I’ve become and they’re most certainly in my DNA.”

Hipgnosis Songs Fund was founded by Merck Mercuriadis and Nile Rodgers in 2018. Besides Neil Young the company owns at least partial rights to the music catalogs of Mark Ronson, Blondie, and Journey.