Hipgnosis acquires ‘Despacito’ co-writer Erika Ender’s catalog – Music Business Worldwide

Erika Ender, a Panamanian singer-songwriter who co-wrote chart-topping Despacito, has sold her song catalog to Hipgnosis Song Management.

Hipgnosis says that it has acquired a 100% interest in Ender’s publishing copyrights (including the writer’s share of performance) “in all songs in her catalogue published, released or utilized through her Sony Music Publishing deal from 2007 through 2019 including Despacito and more than 25 No.1Songs”.

The money for the TMS acquisition has come from the private, Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Songs Capital (not to be confused with the UK-listed public fund, Hipgnosis Songs Fund).

Despacito, released in January 2017, topped the charts in 47 countries and was certified platinum in 9 territories. The track has amassed 1.53 billion streams on Spotify to date, while its music video reached a whopping 8.1 billion views on YouTube. The song was written by Ender alongside Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee.

“Erika Ender has defined Latin music for the last 30 years. Her more than 40 Number 1 singles have made her one of the most successful and influential songwriters of all time.”

Merck Mercuriadis, Hipgnosis Song Management

A remix version of the song performed by Justin Bieber with Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee outpaced the original version, generating 1.61 billion streams on Spotify. 

The original version won three Latin Grammy Awards in 2017 including Record of the Year and Song of the Year, while the remix version won Best Urban Fusion/Performance.

In 2018, the remix version received three Grammy nominations: Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Duo / Group Performance.  It also received six Billboard Latin Music Awards and five Billboard Music Awards.

Hipgnosis’ announcement notes that Ender is the youngest person to be inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame and the first female Latin artist to collect a Grammy Award Song of the Year nomination. Ender has more than 100 awards in addition to her Grammy.

Ender can write and perform in three languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese, and has also released seven solo albums as a singer-songwriter.

On Spotify, she has nearly 256,000 monthly listeners. She has topped the charts with her songs Ábreme La Puerta, Luna Nueva, Cheque Al Portador, Quien Sale No Entra, Masoquista and El Lugar Que Me Vió Nacer. Ender has also ecorded duets with artists including Gente de Zona, Claudia Leitte, Jerry Rivera, Emmanuel), Diana Reyes, Debi Nova and Christian Pagán.

“Erika Ender has defined Latin music for the last 30 years. Her more than 40 Number 1 singles have made her one of the most successful and influential songwriters of all time,” said Merck Mercuriadis, Chief Executive and Founder of Hipgnosis Song Management.

“Over the last 5 years Despacito has ruled the airwaves and helped to drive the new LATAM domination going to No.1 in 47 countries, but Erika is so much more than that one song with a rich catalogue of many incredible songs. I’m delighted to welcome her to the Hipgnosis Family.”

“I’m confident my songs are in good hands with Merck and his team, and they will do their best to keep my catalog active, present and alive, as they honor and recognize that the songs are the seeds to the entire music industry.”

Erika Ender

Commenting on the deal, Ender, added: “I am very excited about this partnership with Hipgnosis. I’ve always believed that music is eternal. I’m confident my songs are in good hands with Merck and his team, and they will do their best to keep my catalog active, present and alive, as they honor and recognize that the songs are the seeds to the entire music industry, the message that touches and marks people’s lives and where it all begins.”

Outside the music industry, Ender is the founder of Puertas Abiertas Foundation, which assists people living in extreme poverty by providing tools, knowledge and support needed to help them produce their own food.

Erika Ender was represented by Oswaldo Rossi and Pamela Klein at Rossi, P.C. and Sergio Lopes at LCTM Brandbuilders in the deal.

The acquisition marks Hipgnosis Song Management and Hipgnosis Songs Capital’s latest catalog-buying deal.

In addition to a “nine-figure” acquisition of Justin Bieber’s career-spanning catalog in January, and the purchase of a song catalog from British songwriting and record production trio TMS last month, Hipgnosis spent around $300 million on previous purchases including catalogs/income streams associated with artists such as Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, Leonard Cohen, and Kenny Chesney.

 Music Business Worldwide