Jimmy Iovine sells producer catalog - U2, Lennon, Springsteen - to Hipgnosis

Hipgnosis Songs has struck a big-money deal to acquire Jimmy Iovine’s worldwide producer royalties across 259 recordings, which includes U2, Bruce Springsteen, John Lennon, Eminem, Simple Minds... Iovine rose to prominence as an engineer in the 1970s, working with John Lennon ('Walls & Bridges', 'Rock & Roll'), Bruce Springsteen ('Born To Run', 'Darkness On The Edge Of Town'), Patti Smith ('Easter' and its single 'Because The Night'), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (3 times platinum 'Damn The Torpedoes'). In the 1980s Iovine produced a run of blockbuster albums for Dire Straits, Stevie Nicks, U2, Simple Minds, and The Pretenders, Variety reports.