Tobias Jesso Jr., the Canadian artist who won the first Grammy for Songwriter of the Year on Sunday, has sold the rights to dozens of his songs.
The 37-year-old Vancouver native released his own album Goon in 2015 and then focused on crafting songs for artists like Adele, Niall Horan and fellow Canadian Shawn Mendes.
Hipgnosis Song Management, founded by Quebec-born Merck Mercuriadis, acquired Jesso Jr.’s share of rights to 40 songs released between 2015 and 2020, including 13 of his own songs.
“Tobias is amongst the most important songwriters in contemporary music today as demonstrated by his winning the 2023 Grammy Award for Songwriter Of The Year, in its inaugural year,” said Mercuriadis said, in a release.
“I fell in love with his songs right from the get go with Goon eight years ago and he never fails to deliver.”
The value of the deal was not disclosed. (When a reporter in the Grammys press room asked Jesso Jr. about compensation for songwriters, he replied: “I mean, I can’t complain about compensation”).
On Sunday, Jesso Jr. also won a Grammy for Album of the Year thanks to his contribution to Harry’s House by Harry Styles (Jesso Jr. co-wrote “Boyfriends”). He had a second nomination in the category as a co-writer of “To Be Loved” on Adele’s 30.
Jesso Jr. was nominated for Songwriter of the Year at the JUNO Awards in 2016 but lost to The Weeknd.
The Hipgnosis deal includes songs recorded by Sia, Florence + The Machine, HAIM, Charlie Puth, John Legend, Meghan Trainor and P!nk. Also in the catalogue are “Lay Me Down” and “When We Were Young” by Adele, “Nice to Meet Ya” and “Slow Hands” by Niall Horan and “Roses” by Shawn Mendes.
Jesso Jr. is the second Canadian this year to sell to Hipgnosis after Justin Bieber, who struck a deal worth a reported $200 million. The company previously acquired the catalogues of Canada’s Leonard Cohen and producer Bob Rock and 50 percent of the rights to Neil Young’s songs.