The London-listed firm, which invests in songs and musical intellectual property rights, said it sold roughly 62 million shares at 121 pence per share.

Hipgnosis said that the year was off to its "strongest start ever" following a slew of agreements with big names including Shakira and Neil Young.

The pandemic has prompted many music industry professionals to monetise their older work by selling valuable tracks and albums, as people confined to their homes stream more content to make up for cancelled live events.

"Whilst we would not have wished for a pandemic to prove our thesis that music is a highly investable asset class generating uncorrelated returns, it has done exactly that," said founder Merck Mercuriadis, who has previously been a manager to artists Elton John and Beyoncé.

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)