Merck Mercuriadis

Mercuriadis is the founder of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, a music IP investment company. In a 2019 interview with the journal Thought Economics, he said: "I have always believed that hit songs and music, art in general, has real value to it. What people don’t really recognise is that when a song becomes a proven song, the earnings pattern to it becomes very predictable and reliable, and is therefore investable. And these songs are as valuable as gold, or oil." The company raised more than US $300 million to fund the acquisition of copyrights in June 2018, and began trading on the London Stock Exchange as SONG in July. Its first acquisition was a majority stake in The-Dream’s 302-song catalogue, which included hits such as Justin Bieber’s "Baby", Beyonce’s "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" and Rihanna’s "Umbrella." It has since acquired 100% of the Poo Bear, Tricky Stewart, TMS and Giorgio Tuinfort catalogues, as well as a stake in the catalogue of Chic co-founder Bernard Edwards.

In April of 2019, Hipgosis Songs raised an additional $185 million. In August, $62.8 million was raised, bringing the fund's total lifetime raise to over $500 million US. The fund owned or partially owned the copyrights on nearly 6000 songs, including "Yeah! by Usher, "Check on It" by Beyoncé, "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey and "Be Without You" by Mary J. Blige.

Mercuriadis resigned from Sanctuary Music Group on October 31, 2006, after 20 years of service. He founded Hipgnosis Songs Limited after leaving Sanctuary, bringing Guns N' Roses and Morrissey with him.

Mercuriadis is known for his marketing and creative contributions to several successful albums and singles including Morrisey's Ringleader of the Tormentors, a #1 album, and You Are the Quarry, which hit #2, "Changes" (number 1 single) with Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne, the #2 single "Elton John's Electricity", and several #1 albums with Iron Maiden. He was also part of the Mercury Music Prize with Antony and the Johnsons's I Am a Bird Now.In 2005, Mercuriadis was featured on the cover of Billboard magazine with Elton John. Mercuriadis delivered the keynote speech at the Pollstar CIC awards in 2005. In a 2017 article published by Music Business International Mercuriadis wrote: "Our job as managers isn’t to do what we want to do, it’s to do what the artist wants to do. Our job is to facilitate their vision for themselves and to help bring it to fruition."

After Elton John sold Twenty-First Artists to Sanctuary Group for $30.1 million, he turned to Mercuriadis to manage the creative side of his career. Mercuriadis was the manager of several of Elton John's albums including Elton John's Christmas Party and The Captain & the Kid. He was also the executive producer of the Elton John's TV show The Red Piano from 2004 to 2006.

In October 1986, Mercuriadis joined Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor, the founders, at Sanctuary Music (Overseas) Limited, a management company based in the United Kingdom. Over 20 years, he helped build The Sanctuary Group PLC encompassing Sanctuary Artist Management, Sanctuary Records Group Limited, Rough Trade Records, Helter Skelter Agency and Bravado Merchandise, Twenty First Artists and Trinifold Management. During this time, Mercuriadis moved from London to New York to build the North American base in 2000. In addition, Mercuriadis and Sanctuary Group relaunched Rough Trade Records with founder Geoff Travis and Jeannette Lee in 2001. This initiative included several artists such as The Strokes, The Moldy Peaches, The Libertines, Arcade Fire Antony And The Johnsons, and The Kills. In New York, Mercuriadis served as chief executive officer of Sanctuary Group North America until December 2004. Then, Sanctuary reorganized its management team and named Mercuriadis CEO of the entire group for his substantial contribution in the global revenues overseas. During his tenure at Sanctuary Group, Mercuriadis oversaw the management of Destiny's Child, Beyoncé, Nelly, Mick Fleetwood, Tommy Lee, The Who, and Robert Plant. He also managed the recordings of Megadeth, Kiss, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers Band, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Blue Nile, Simple Minds and Lou Reed. With its list of notable artists, intellectual property rights collection, record labels, integrated services style, Sanctuary Group created a unique position in the music industry.

Merck Mercuriadis (born October 2, 1963) is a Canadian–American music industry executive and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, a publicly-traded music IP investment company, and the founder and CEO of Hipgnosis Songs Limited, the investment advisor to the fund, and an artist management and music publishing firm. Mercuriadis has managed artists including Nile Rodgers, Beyoncé, Elton John, Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Morrissey, Pet Shop Boys, Macy Gray, Mary J. Blige, Joss Stone, Jane's Addiction, and Catherine Wheel. He served as the director and CEO of Sanctuary Group PLC from 1986 to 2007.