Metallica Producer Bob Rock Sells Rights to ‘The Black Album’

Longtime Metallica producer Bob Rock has sold his rights to the Black Album, among other pieces of music he helmed in the studio. Hipgnosis Songs Fund, an investment and song management company, acquired a total of 43 songs from Rock, who produced Metallica’s ‘90s discography and 2003’s St. Anger.

Bob Rock’s producing credits are amongst rock and metal’s most impressive. His first big gigs came in the late ‘80s with the Cult’s Sonic Temple and Motley Crue’s Dr. Feelgood, but the Black Album broke all sorts of records, becoming the first record to sell over 16 million albums in the SoundScan era.

The exact amount Rock was paid for the Black Album has not been made public, but one can imagine a large line of zeros at the end of that check. “The breadth of Bob Rock’s enormous successes are almost impossible to match by any creator in the history of music,” says Hipgnosis Songs founder Merck Mercuriadis. “From Metallica’s most famous Black Album to Michael Bublé’s Christmas, he has produced some of the biggest albums of all time that continue to be evergreen, year in and year out.”

“Everyone who has worked with Bob knows he is a difference maker, which is why the artists he has produced end up making multiple albums with him, which are almost always their biggest successes. Bob is very special and as a fellow Canadian, it is a pleasure to welcome him and his incredible productions to the Hipgnosis family.”

“I put my heart and soul into these recordings, Bob Rock adds. “I know how much Merck loves music, so it was an easy deal to put together.”

Along with the Black Album, Rock sold his rights to various tracks from Michael Bublé’s Call Me Irresponsible, Crazy Love, Christmas and To Be Loved.

Source:  loudwire.com