Merck Mercuriadis has spent his career at the intersection of creativity and capital. As the founder and CEO of Hipgnosis Songs, he turned the world’s most enduring hits into a new institutional asset class — one now worth billions.

Under his leadership, Hipgnosis acquired catalogs from icons like Neil Young, Shakira, Justin Bieber, Fleetwood Mac, Beyoncé, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, transforming the economics of music publishing and igniting a global wave of catalog investment. His thesis — that the royalties of proven songs are “more valuable than gold or oil” — has become one of the most disruptive ideas in modern asset management.

At the 2025 Sway Minds Summit, Mercuriadis joined Soledad O’Brien, Emmy Award–winning journalist and documentarian, to discuss how music became investable, what it reveals about the future of intellectual property, and why the most sustainable assets may also be the most emotional. The article below is not a transcript of their talk but an editorial interpretation of the ideas and insights they shared.

To explore the full discussion, including topics not covered here, subscribe to Sway Capital’s YouTube channel and get early access when Merck Mercuriadis’s session is released.

Songs as Stores of Value

When Mercuriadis first presented the idea of music as an institutional asset in 2018, investors were skeptical. Yet within five years, Hipgnosis had proven what he argued from the start: hit songs behave like perpetual royalty trusts, producing predictable, inflation-protected income streams uncorrelated with public markets.

The math is persuasive. Streaming has turned music consumption into a form of subscription utility — a constant global demand with over 600 million paid users and growing. A well-curated catalog can generate 6–10% annual yields, outperforming many traditional yield assets while retaining upside through synchronization and cultural resurgence.

Unlike physical commodities, songs appreciate with exposure. Every listen, placement, or viral moment renews their commercial and emotional relevance. “Single Ladies,” “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Hallelujah,” and “Livin’ on a Prayer” are not just cultural artifacts — they’re cash-flowing IP that compounds with time.

For institutional investors, the appeal is clear: stable returns, low correlation, and the rare alignment of financial value and cultural endurance.

Inventing a New Asset Class

The creation of Hipgnosis represented more than a financial innovation — it was a reorganization of how the world values creativity. By listing Hipgnosis Songs Fund on the London Stock Exchange and later partnering with Blackstone on a private vehicle, Mercuriadis built the bridge between the music industry and institutional capital.

To date, Hipgnosis has deployed over $3 billion in catalog acquisitions, managing more than 65,000 songs across every modern genre. The model combines financial analytics with artistic stewardship, using proprietary data to track global consumption patterns while maintaining hands-on involvement in creative promotion and synchronization.

Mercuriadis calls this “active song management.” It’s portfolio optimization with a producer’s ear — identifying under-monetized works, expanding licensing opportunities, and extending the lifespan of timeless songs. The result: an asset class where value creation depends not just on ownership, but on ongoing imagination.

Aligning Artists and Investors

Before launching Hipgnosis, Mercuriadis spent decades managing artists such as Elton John, Beyoncé, and Guns N’ Roses. That experience shaped his conviction that the creators of the world’s most valuable cultural assets were historically the least empowered in their monetization.

Hipgnosis was designed to change that. By offering artists liquidity without stripping them of legacy, the company allows creators to convert catalog equity into long-term capital while retaining pride of ownership. Investors, meanwhile, gain access to an uncorrelated, high-yield asset backed by songs that have already proven their resilience across decades.

Critics once argued that Hipgnosis was “overpaying” for catalogs, but Mercuriadis saw the economics differently. In a global market where streaming revenue expands annually and sync licensing multiplies through digital media, he viewed these acquisitions as buying durable cultural monopolies — irreplaceable works with infinite playback value.

The Data Behind Cultural Durability

At the center of Hipgnosis’s approach is data — not as a substitute for intuition, but as a complement to it. Streaming has transformed music into one of the most measurable forms of IP in existence. Every play, skip, or playlist addition informs predictive models that identify which songs have lasting resonance.

Hipgnosis uses these insights to rebalance portfolios, anticipate usage spikes, and maximize performance rights revenue. But Mercuriadis insists that no algorithm can replace judgment. “Data can tell you what people are doing,” he often says, “but not why it matters.” That “why” — the emotional truth embedded in a song — is what sustains its economic value long after trends fade.

In that sense, Hipgnosis operates more like a venture firm than a publishing company: identifying enduring IP early, building structural leverage around it, and compounding its returns through careful stewardship.

The Future of IP Investing

As capital continues to flow into music, film, and digital rights, Mercuriadis sees a broader transformation underway — one in which intellectual property becomes the defining asset class of the 21st century.

Just as real estate and energy powered the industrial economy, IP powers the attention economy. From catalog acquisitions to AI-generated content, the new frontier of investing will depend not only on ownership, but on the ability to manage cultural assets with authenticity and precision.

For investors, this shift presents both opportunity and responsibility. IP is no longer peripheral; it’s core infrastructure. Its cash flows are durable, its correlations minimal, and its emotional impact immeasurable. In Mercuriadis’s view, that combination makes creativity not just investable — but indispensable.

The Power of Stewardship

At its heart, Mercuriadis’s philosophy is not about speculation but stewardship. Songs, he reminds audiences, are part of the human record — assets that exist at the intersection of memory, meaning, and market. To manage them well is to protect something larger than profit.

For the Sway Minds audience of founders, fund managers, and institutional LPs, his message was unmistakable: the future of value lies in owning what lasts — and honoring what connects. Whether in music, film, or technology, the next great asset classes will be built not only on innovation, but on integrity.