Manilow and his management company Stiletto Entertainment have filed a lawsuit against Hipgnosis four years after striking a $7.5 million deal to sell the rights to his master recordings.
Barry Manilow and his management company Stiletto Entertainment filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against Hipgnosis Songs Fund on Friday, alleging the company has refused to pay multiple bonus payments tied to the original acquisition of the rights to his music from 2020.
According to a lawsuit filed in federal court in California this week that was obtained by Rolling StoneInitially, Hipgnosis paid artists $7.5 million for royalties to originals from Manilow’s catalog, including hits like “Looks Like We Made It,” “Mandy,” “I Write The Songs,” and more. As part of that initial deal, Manilow and Stiletto alleged that Hipgnosis agreed to pay an additional $750,000 in bonuses based on whether the catalog achieved certain revenue growth figures each year.
The plaintiffs alleged that royalty revenues reached this level each year, but Hypnosis did not pay.
“It is unclear whether Defendant is intentionally violating the MCAA or whether it lacks the resources to fulfill its contractual obligations,” the lawsuit states.
A Hipgnosis representative did not immediately respond. Rolling StoneRequest comment.
The lawsuit comes weeks after Hipgnosis sued Manilow over the bonus clause earlier this month. A Hipgnosis representative told Billboard at the time that the lawsuit was “a routine business matter regarding the interpretation of certain terms in a contract relating to bonus payments, and one that the court has the ideal standing to address.”
Hipnosis helped drive the music acquisition boom that has dominated headlines in recent years as the company, formerly led by music executive Merck Mercuriadis, spent billions of dollars acquiring catalogs from the likes of Justin Bieber, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shakira and many others. Over the past year, shareholders have been up in arms over a number of issues and the sale of the Hipnosis Songs Fund to investment giant Blackstone. Mercuriadis left the company in July.
