Kiwi producer and songwriter Joel Little has sold his entire back catalogue to a British investment fund, in a deal expected to make him tens of millions of dollars.
Best known for his work with Lorde and Taylor Swift, Little's joining the likes of Fleetwood Mac and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in cashing in.
Little's Grammy-winning work with Lorde in 2013 made him one of the industry's most in-demand producers and songwriters.
Fast forward to 2021 and his contact book is bulging.
From Imagine Dragons to Shawn Mendes, Little's work has been streamed 15 billion times.
Now UK song fund Hipgnosis has bought the rights to 178 of his songs.
Founded in 2018, Hipgnosis purchases song licenses from songwriters for a lump sum, and from then on, receives all the royalties.
Essentially, it invests in songs like assets - it now has the rights to nearly 60,000 tracks, and is worth nearly $2.5 billion.
Its portfolio includes the likes of Neil Young, Blondie, Lindsay Buckingham - and just last month Hipgnosis coughed up 207-million dollars for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' catalogue.
The price Hipgnosis paid for Little's catalogue hasn't been disclosed, but between 2017 and 2019, his songs earned nearly 12 million dollars - helped in no small part by his work with Taylor Swift.
In its acquisition statement, Hipgnosis called Little "one of the most important songwriters in the world today."
It's a long way from his Morningside studio back in 2013.
Little's manager said he was unable to be interviewed today, as he's just announced his greatest collaboration yet -the birth of his daughter.
Now that's a week to remember.
