Hipgnosis set to quit tax exile in Guernsey

Hipgnosis set to quit tax exile in Guernsey after snapping up music rights from a host of top artists

This year Hipgnosis bought music rights from Blondie, Neil Young and Shakira (pictured)

Hipgnosis Songs Fund has moved onshore from Guernsey to the UK. 

It means Hipgnosis will cease to be a Guernsey tax exempt vehicle and instead be ‘treated as being resident in the UK for tax purposes’. 

Guernsey is a hotspot for music rights firms – with Round Hill and Tailwind also based on the island – as it allows them to organize their assets and operations into separate companies. 

Earlier this month Hipgnosis snapped up song rights from Carole Bayer Sager, the songwriter behind the James Bond theme tune Nobody Does It Better. 

It was the latest deal by the FTSE250-listed business, which has been on an acquisitions spree since the start of the year. 

Already this year the company has bought music rights from Blondie, Neil Young and pop princess Shakira.