Blackstone in Talks to Back Merck Mercuriadis’s New Music Fund

Blackstone Inc. is about to give music manager Merck Mercuriadis around $1 billion in firepower to buy music catalogs.

The alternative asset manager is in discussions to partner with Mercuriadis, who runs U.K.-based Hipgnosis, on a new fund dedicated to buying copyrights, according to people familiar with the matter. Mercuriadis’s company would manage the fund, which will be backed by about $1 billion in equity and debt from Blackstone’s tactical opportunities business, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.

The plans aren’t finalized and talks could still fall apart. A representative for Blackstone declined ...