A Dutch investment fund has bought the music rights for two major bands from the 1980s, The Stranglers and the Gipsy Kings.

The Pythagoras Music Fund in Hilversum has also bought songwriter Peter Sinfield’s music rights, including Think Twice by Celine Dion and Power by Kanye West, the Financieele Dagblad reported on Thursday.

Music rights are an interesting investment, the fund’s investment chief Michiel Boere told the FD. Television and streaming services, radio stations and the likes of Spotify all pay rights each time music is played. Advertising is an additional source of income.

The Gipsy Kings rights had only just been acquired when Spanish beer firm Cruzcampo said it wanted to use their version of My Way, A Mi Manera, in an advert. “That is where you earn serious money,” Boere said. “Using music in a series generates thousands of euros but for a worldwide campaign you are talking about hundreds of thousands.”

Boere declined to say what the fund had paid for The Stranglers and Gipsy Kings, but “our sweet spot is deals up to €10 million,” he told the paper.

Pythagoras was set up in 2021 by composer John Ewbank and a number of other big names from the music business.  “We have a lot of semi-institutional investors, private individuals with major assets,” Boere said. “All our investors are in real estate and stocks, but music rights are an interesting addition.”