Sony Acquires $200M in Bhasker and Antonoff Rights from Blackstone

Sony Music Group has secured a massive tranche of publishing and master rights from Blackstone’s Recognition Music Group, valued at over $200 million.

The deal centers on the modern songbooks of super-producers Jeff Bhasker and Jack Antonoff, signaling a new phase in the dismantling of the former Hipgnosis empire.

Unbundling the behemoth

This transaction marks a definitive pivot in Blackstone’s strategy for the assets formerly known as the Hipgnosis Songs Fund. After taking the fund private for ~$1.6 billion in July 2024 and rebranding it as Recognition Music Group, Blackstone is actively breaking up the band.

Rather than holding the 45,000-song portfolio as a static yield vehicle, the private equity giant is unbundling liquid, high-value segments to realize immediate returns. This follows the June 2025 sale of the Hipgnosis Songs Group (formerly Big Deal Music) to Sony Music Publishing.

The "Taylor Economy" bet

Sony isn't buying bulk; they are buying cultural ubiquity. The acquisition locks down rights to some of the most streamed songs of the last 15 years.

Jeff Bhasker: The architect of Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk" (Diamond certified) and anthems for Fun. ("We Are Young").

Jack Antonoff: The producer defining the sound of the "Taylor Swift economy," alongside critical works for Lana Del Rey, Lorde, and St. Vincent.

Key insight: By targeting writers intrinsic to the Taylor Swift and Harry Styles ecosystems, Sony is betting on the specific durability of the 2010s pop canon over general catalog breadth.

Liquidity vs. Legacy

The deal highlights the diverging incentives between financial owners and music majors.

The Blackstone view: The firm is executing a classic PE playbook—improving the asset's structure and selling off "crown jewels" to hit Internal Rate of Return (IRR) targets.

The Sony view: This is a market share play. By absorbing these rights into their global administration infrastructure, Sony removes administrative friction and secures higher margins on songs that are already staples of sync and radio.

Valuation reality check

While the frenzy of the 2021 catalog gold rush has cooled due to interest rates, this deal proves that "blue-chip" modern hits remain inflation-proof.

A $200M+ valuation for a specific slice of rights—rather than a whole company—suggests that multiples for proven, Diamond-certified hits have not compressed nearly as much as the broader "middle class" of music copyrights.

What to watch

With ~$4 billion in total assets originally under the Hipgnosis umbrella, the industry is watching to see how deep the divestment goes.

The signal: If Blackstone sells another major tranche (e.g., the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Shakira catalogs) in Q3 or Q4, Recognition Music Group is effectively a liquidation vehicle.

The noise: If they hold the remaining legacy rock assets, they are likely building a long-term yield portfolio stripped of its most volatile, high-multiple pop assets.