Bob Rock banks million from sale of Black Album rights

Metalliica + Bob Rock — (Image credit: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage for ASCAP)

Producer Bob Rock has sold his rights in Metallica’s hugely-successful ‘Black Album’ to an investment firm.

The Canadian producer has signed away his royalties from Metallica’s self-titled fifth album, and also his rights in songs he produced for Canadian crooner Michael Bublé, to the Hipgnosis Songs Fund, founded in 2018 by Merck Mercuriadis.

The businessman, who previously worked alongside Rod Smallwood at Sanctuary management, and has managed the affairs of Guns N’ Roses, The Almighty, Kerbdog, Elton John and Beyoncé, recently announced Hipgnosis deals with Neil Young and Colombian pop star Shakira.

“I put my heart and soul into these recordings,” says Rock, commenting on the deal. ”I know how much Merck loves music, so it was an easy deal to put together.”

Mercuriadis says: “The breadth of Bob Rock’s enormous successes are almost impossible to match by any creator in the history of music. From Metallica’s most famous Black Album to Michael Bublé’s Christmas, he has produced some of the biggest albums of all time that continue to be evergreen, year in and year out.”

Metallica have always fiercely guarded their own publishing rights, and they are one of the few modern rock bands, alongside U2 and Foo Fighters, with full ownership and control of their album masters. The ‘Black Album’ has now sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, with producer Bob Rock getting a royalty payment on each sale.

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