Justin Bieber sells music rights for $200 million

Pop juggernaut Justin Bieber has sold his music publishing and recording catalog shares to the Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Songs Capital for $200 million, the company said Tuesday -- marking the industry's latest blockbuster rights deal.

The sale has been rumored for weeks, and sees the 28-year-old join a who's who of artists who have cashed out recently on their catalogs.

Hipgnosis did not publicly disclose terms of the deal, but a source close to the matter told AFP it was worth around $200 million.

Some relatively young contemporary stars including Justin Bieber and Shakira have sold large stakes in their work -- both of those celebrities also struck deals with Hipgnosis -- but the sales frenzy has primarily taken off with legacy artists like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

The staggering sums -- Springsteen's catalog went to Sony for a reported half a billion dollars -- are seen as safe bets both for older artists getting their finances in order and investors who can count on consistent returns from time-tested music.

Younger catalogs are seen as riskier territory, but Bieber is one of the best-selling artists of all time, and now Hipgnosis has his share in some of the 21st...