Blackstone Unveils Music Investment Deal With Merck Mercuriadis

Blackstone Inc. is partnering with music manager Merck Mercuriadis to invest about $1 billion in acquiring music rights and song catalogs.

The alternative asset manager said it would also take an ownership stake in Hipgnosis Song Management, the firm founded and run by Mercuriadis, according to a statement that confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report.

The market for music copyrights become more competitive, thanks in part to the aggressive spending of Mercuriadis’s Hipgnosis Songs Funds Ltd., a publicly traded investment vehicle operated by his management firm.

It’s also gotten more competitive, with music labels Universal Music Group NV ...