Entertainment
R.I.P. Hipgnosis: New Owners Change Influential Catalog Company’s Name to Recognition Music

Hipgnosis, the catalog company with rights to songs by artists including the Red Hot Chili Peppers that became the face of music-as-an-asset-class for Wall Street investors, is being renamed Recognition Music Group, the company said on Wednesday (March 12).
The new name covers what was previously three separate companies that each had Hipgnosis in the name: Hipgnosis Songs Fund, a publicly traded music royalty investment fund formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange; Hipgnosis Songs Assets, a privately-held royalty fund backed by Blackstone; and Hipgnosis Song Management, the investment manager previously run by founder Merck Mercuriadis that worked to generate a return on the song rights held in the catalog funds.
Mercuriadis did not respond to a request for comment.
Since Blackstone acquired Hipgnosis’s public fund for $1.47 billion and Mercuriadis stepped down from his role as chair of the investment manager last year, the company decided it was time to shed the old name, CEO Ben Katovsky tells Billboard.
Recognition’s portfolio of publishing and master recording rights to some 45,000 songs include stakes in megahits like Shakira‘s “Whenever, Whereever,” The B-52s’ “Love Shack,” Fleetwood Mac‘s “Go Your Own Way” and Diana Ross‘ “I’m coming out.” A video made by the company to promote its new name to its roughly 40 employees weaves together lyrics from these and other songs in its portfolio to send a message that despite their history as separate entities, the Hipgnosis companies are meant to “get together,” even if one almost went its “own way” during Blackstone’s billion-dollar bidding war with Concord. Nearly a year after it consolidated ownership, Blackstone and Katovsky “want the world to know” this is a new company.
“It’s impossible not to have those songs resonate in your mind,” Katovsky says from Recognition’s London offices. He tells Billboard that the new name refers to “a combination of how easy it is to recognize those songs day to day and also to recognize the talent of the artists and songwriters and musicians who made those songs.”
Qasim Abbas, Blackstone’s head of tactical opportunities international, the division of the global financial fund that owns Recognition, said in a statement that last year showed “strong investor conviction in this asset class.”
“The company is now set to build on its position as a leading independent investor in music rights; owning and managing an incredible portfolio of songs and recordings,” Abbas added.
Hipgnosis was known for acquiring dozens of catalogs a year between 2018 and 2021, earning it a reputation of contributing to a run-up in the market for music royalties. In contrast, Recognition intends to be a “selective buyer” of music rights, Katovsky says.
“Our ambition is to continue to grow the portfolio, and we already have scale as a business,” Katovsky says. “The scale allows us to invest … but it also means we’re not under any pressure to deploy capital.”
Recognition’s portfolio remains heavily weighted to publishing rights, which comprise roughly 80% of its assets; the remainder are mostly master recording rights. Blackstone still owns Hipgnosis Songs Group, the subsidiary that has housed Big Deal Music’s administration business since Hipgnosis acquired the independent publisher in 2020. The company has said the division is under strategic review, and Recognition is now looking to partner with publishers and music companies for the administration of its assets.
“Recognition Music will be a very collaborative player in this space in ways that it was not historically,” Katovsky says. “We want to work with other partners in this industry to do that.”
Entertainment
Jelly Roll Brings Grit & Heart to In-Ring Debut at WWE SummerSlam 2025

Jelly Roll made his WWE in-ring debut this weekend, and teamed up with Randy Orton to battle Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul at SummerSlam 2025. Jelly didn’t disappoint, as the brute country force rattled McIntyre and Paul with a series of slams and elbow drops, before ultimately falling short in his Saturday night (Aug. 2) WWE match.
Ahead of the match, Jelly introduced tag partner Orton and performed his entrance theme song, “Voices,” electrifying the MetLife Stadium crowd in East Rutherford, N.J.
Kicking off the match against Paul, Jelly impressed early. Not only did he deliver some offense, including an impressive shoulder tackle on Paul, but he absorbed a flurry of attacks. The defining moment came when Paul sent Jelly crashing through the announcer’s table with a high-flying splash. Despite the setback, a hobbled Jelly Roll delivered a clinical performance: first chokeslamming Paul before issuing a punishing bodyslam. But Paul had the last laugh, connecting with a frog splash and scoring the 1-2-3.
Jelly, a lifelong wrestling fan, trained rigorously at WWE’s Performance Center ahead of his match, which contributed to his 230-pound weight loss.
“This is about belief — believing in myself — and wanting to selfishly be a part of a beautiful moment,” Jelly said earlier this week in an interview with WWE’s Jackie Redmond. “I love this business. I just wanna bring value. I’m not here to take nothing away. I’m not here to take nobody’s spot. I want to bring value. I think this is one of the greatest ages of storytelling I’ve seen in wrestling this decade.”
See clips of Jelly’s SummerSlam in-ring debut below.
Entertainment
Jerry Garcia Has Childhood Street Named for Him in San Francisco

A few hundred people gathered Friday (Aug. 1) to name a tiny San Francisco street after legendary Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia on what would have been his 83rd birthday, and as part of a citywide celebration to mark the band’s 60th anniversary.
Harrington Street, which is one block long, will also be called “Jerry Garcia Street.” Garcia died in 1995, but the band’s popularity has only grown as younger generations discover the Dead’s improvisational music, which blended rock, blues, folk and other styles.
Garcia spent part of his childhood in a modest home in the city’s diverse Excelsior neighborhood. He lived with his grandparents after the death of his father, Jose Ramon “Joe” Garcia.
“I hope that you all get a chance to enjoy the music, dance, hug, smile,” said daughter Trixie Garcia, growing emotional during her brief remarks. “Cherish what’s valuable, what’s significant in life.”
Tens of thousands of fans are in San Francisco to commemorate the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary with concerts and other activities throughout the city.
The latest iteration of the band, Dead & Company, with original Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, play Golden Gate Park’s Polo Field for three days this weekend (beginning with Friday’s show), with an estimated 60,000 attendees expected each day.
Formed in 1965, the Grateful Dead played often and for free in their early years while living in a cheap Victorian home in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. The band later became a significant part of 1967’s Summer of Love, and the Grateful Dead has become synonymous with San Francisco and its bohemian counterculture.
On Friday, fans in rainbow tie-dye and Grateful Dead T-shirts whooped and cheered as the sign was unveiled. Nonfans with shopping bags and some using walking canes maneuvered around the crowd on what was for them just another foggy day in the working-class neighborhood.
Afterward, devotees peeled off to pose for photos in front of Garcia’s childhood home.
Jared Yankee, 23, got the crowd to join him in singing “Happy Birthday.” Yankee said he flew in from Rhode Island for the shows. He got into the music about a decade ago.
“It’s a human thing,” he said of his impromptu singing. “I figure everyone knows the words to ‘Happy Birthday.’”
Entertainment
Fans Choose Mariah The Scientist & Kali Uchis’ ‘Is It a Crime’ as This Week’s Favorite New Music

“Is It a Crime,” the new duet from Mariah The Scientist and Kali Uchis, tops this week’s fan-voted music poll.
Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (Aug. 1) on Billboard, choosing the pair’s fresh collaboration as their favorite new release of the past week.
“Is It a Crime” rose above a plethora of new releases — among them, songs from hitmakers like Demi Lovato, Chappell Roan, Reneé Rapp and more. Mariah and Kali’s collab track topped the poll by a landslide, bringing in more than 57% of the vote.
“Is It a Crime,” a slow jam that has the two artists singing about the return of a past love — and defending the relationship if anyone’s got anything to say about it — dropped on July 31, with spicy, jail-themed single art. (“very intentional, very grown woman,” Uchis commented of their shoot on Instagram.)
The chorus of the song says it all: “And so what? I fell, you fell in love a couple times/ Tell me, what’s it to ya? Tell me, is it a crime/ To fall, to fall in love, in love a couple times?/ Tell me, what’s it to ya? Tell me, is it a crime to fall?”
Among the new releases trailing behind “Is It a Crime” on this week’s poll are Demi Lovato’s “Fast,” coming in with 17% of the vote; Chappell Roan’s “The Subway,” with 16% of the vote, and Reneé Rapp’s “Bite Me,” with 2% of the vote.
See the final results of this week’s poll below.
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