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Barry Manilow Claims Company That Bought Music Rights Owes Him $1.5 Million

Barry Manilow sued Hipgnosis Songs Fund for $1.5 million this week over alleged missing bonus payments tied to their $7.5 million music rights deal.

Per the suit, filed in federal court in California this week and obtained by Rolling Stone, Hipgnosis originally paid $7.5 million for the artist royalty rights to the masters from Manilow’s catalog, including hits such as “Looks Like We Made It,” “Mandy,” “I Write The Songs,” and many more. As part of that initial deal, Manilow and Stiletto alleged, Hipgnosis agreed to pay two more $750,000 in bonuses based on if the catalog met certain revenue growth figures each year. A rep for Hipgnosis told Billboard at the time that the suit was a “routine commercial matter concerning the interpretation of certain clauses in a contract regarding bonus payments, which the court is ideally placed to address.”

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