Shakira sells rights to entire 145-song music catalogue to UK company Hipgnosis

The 'Hips Don't Lie' star has sold her tunes to the same company that recently acquired a 50 per cent stake in Neil Young's music

Shakira has sold the rights to her music catalogue to Hipgnosis. Reuters

Grammy-winning superstar Shakira is the latest artist to sell the rights to her music.

The Board of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, a UK investment company, has acquired 100 per cent of the Hips Don't Lie singer's music publishing rights, it announced on Wednesday, January 13.

Shakira's catalogue includes 145 songs, such as Whenever, Wherever, She Wolf and Waka Waka (This Time for Africa).

The Colombian-born star, who released her debut album in 1991 at age 13, rose to international fame with her third album, 1995's Pies Descalzos. The multitalented singer-songwriter-instrumentalist took the American pop scene by storm when she made her US language debut with Laundry Service in 2001.

She’s won three Grammy Awards, 12 Latin Grammys, four MTV Video Music Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards and 39 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Overall, Shakira has sold 80 million albums.

"Being a songwriter is an accomplishment that I consider equal to and perhaps even greater than being a singer and an artist. At 8 years old — long before I sang — I wrote to make sense of the world. Each song is a reflection of the person I was at the time that I wrote it, but once a song is out in the world, it belongs not only to me but to those who appreciate it as well," Shakira said.

“I’m humbled that songwriting has given me the privilege of communicating with others, of being a part of something bigger than myself.”

The announcement of Hipgnosis acquiring Shakira’s catalogue comes a week after the company purchased a 50 per cent stake in Neil Young's music.

Last month, Bob Dylan said he sold his publishing rights of more than 600 songs to Universal Music Publishing Group.