Taylor Swift and Lorde songwriter Joel Little sells back catalogue to Hipgnosis

Hipgnosis, the London-listed songs investment fund, has snapped up the back catalogue of Grammy-winning hitmaker Joel Little, who has worked with A-listers including Taylor Swift and Lorde.

The songwriter-producer, whose credits include Taylor Swift's Me! and Lorde's Royals, has seen his songs streamed more than 15 billion times, the fund said today.

Hipgnosis, launched by Merck Mercuriadis, former manager to Beyoncé, has raised more than £1 billion from investors since floating in 2018.

Mercuriadis said: "Joel is one of the most important songwriters in the world today.

“His songs are amongst the most streamed songs of the last 10 years amassing more than 15 billion streams globally. It’s wonderful to welcome Joel and Ashley [his manager].”

Little said he feels "incredibly grateful" for his career and that it is " really nice to know that these songs will be so well taken care of by Merck and his team of passionate music people”.

The fund has been on a buying spree this year, buying up rights ranging from Michael Bublé albums to music by Neil Young, and Shakira’s 145-song back catalogue.