Real reason Justin Bieber couldn't play his old music in full after he was 'paid $10million to skip through songs on a laptop' during headline Coachella set

Justin Bieber's long-awaited stage comeback at Coachella was lamented by fans on Saturday, as they branded his show 'the worst in the festival's history.'

The singer, 32, was reportedly paid $10 million for a headline slot at the festival, but underwhelmed with a set that mainly consisted of him singing tracks he'd searched on a laptop.

Taking to the stage in a hoodie and shorts, Justin focused on a number of his new songs and played a blink-and-miss medley of his beloved songs like Baby, Favorite Girl, Beauty and a Beat, Never Say Never and Confident. 

However, the real reason Justin couldn't play his old music in full has now been revealed, as he sold his entire music catalogue back in December 2022. 

The Canadian hitmaker sold his music rights to Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Songs Capital for over $200million, which could be why he heavily focused on his new music.

At the time of the deal, the Sorry singer had released six studio albums over the years, along with scores of singles and collaborations with artists including Ludacris, Nicki Minaj and Jaden Smith.

As of last year, Justin, who shot to fame as a 15-year-old with the release of 2010 single, Baby, had sold a whopping 150million records worldwide solidifying his status as one of the best-selling music artists in history. 

In 2025, Justin dropped his album Swag and Swag II, which featured songs such as Daisies, Yukon, and All I Can Take. 

During his career, the pop star made somewhere between $500million and $1billion but blew it all and was in rough financial shape before selling his music catalogue reports TMZ. 

Sources for Justin claimed he was on the verge of 'financial collapse' back in 2022 to the point that he had to sell the rights to his music at the end of the year.

Insiders also allege that his manager Scooter Braun had tried to tell him it was a bad idea to sell so early in his career or at least wait until January 2023 in order to get a tax break but Justin did not want to wait to he ended up selling December 2022.

Justin remains the youngest artist to ever have sold their catalog and the publication reports that being in dire financial straights had a lot to do with the decision.

At the time, DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for Bieber and they refused to comment.

Last year, Justin's wife Hailey announced she was selling her skincare line Rhode in a massive $1 billion deal.

The model - who launched the company nearly three years earlier in June 2022 - revealed that her brand was being acquired by E.l.f. Cosmetics, but she will still serve as founder of the brand as well as Chief Creative Officer and Head of Innovation.

Hailey took to her Instagram page to reflect on the business partnership and also gave a shout for the 'support' given to Rhode.

'When I launched @rhode in 2022, I always had big dreams for the company, and the most important thing to me is to keep bringing rhode to more spaces, places, and faces globally.'

She continued, 'So today I am so incredibly excited and proud to announce that we are partnering with e.l.f. Beauty as we step into this next chapter in the world of rhode.

'I found a like-minded disruptor with a vision to be a different kind of company that believes in big ideas and innovation in the same way that I do and will help us continue to grow the brand.'

During Justin's Coachella set he gave a touching shoutout to wife Hailey and their son Jack. 

While performing the minimalistic acoustic song Everything Hallelujah, fans went wild after he sang, 'Hailey, babe, hallelujah / baby Jack, hallelujah,' in the second chorus.

The performance was livestreamed, and a fan shared a snippet of the sweet moment in a video posted on X.

Under red lights and wearing a zip-up sweatshirt, Justin serenaded his wife of nearly eight years, who was in the audience.

The longtime couple welcomed son Jack Blues Bieber, 20 months, in August 2024.

After he name dropped Hailey, a camera flashed to the model, who blushed, smiled, and blew a kiss.

She supported her husband ahead of his performance by posing on Instagram in a thong swimsuit and baby T-shirt reading 'Future Mrs. Bieber.'

The beauty also used the app to share a closeup snapshot of a pair of blue basketball shorts with 'Bieber' printed in yellow.

This year's Coachella event has been affectionately dubbed 'Bieberchella,' with fans relishing in the Canadian singer's comeback.

The hitmaker previously cancelled his Justice world tour in 2022 for health reasons.

But last summer Bieber released his surprise seventh studio album, Swag, to critical acclaim on July 11. It was followed by a deluxe album, Swag II, just weeks later on September 5.

Elsewhere at Coachella, Sabrina Carpenter headlined the festival on night one and impressed fans with her four costume changes and delivered a medley of her smash hit songs Juno, Espresso and Goodbye.

Following weekend one of the festival, the world’s leading ticket marketplace viagogo revealed that Sabrina has topped fan interest in ticket sale searches, generating 23 times more searches than Justin Bieber.

It comes as the Biebers have wielded their star power with back-to-back business collaborations.

First, the husband and wife dropped a co-designed fashion collection under the performer's latest endeavor SKYLRK.

And on April 13 fans will be able to purchase the couple's collaborative pimple patches via Hailey's billion-dollar skincare brand Rhode.

The Yukon hitmaker has made history as the highest paid Coachella Festival act ever.

He surpassed Beyoncé with his eight-figure payout, which totaled more than $10M.

And he negotiated directly with Goldenvoice, the festival's promoter.

'It's a groundbreaking move for a headliner, and it's something he built entirely on his own,' a source close to the singer told Rolling Stone last September.

'Between headlining Coachella and the success of Swag, it's clear this is the start of an exciting new era for Justin — one where he's fully in the driver's seat,' the person added.

Insiders said his fee surpasses $5 million per weekend.

Due to his negotiating finesse, Bieber isn't sharing a cut with an agent – making his profit all the more substantial.

Coachella does not disclose how much it pays artists, but speculative reports allege that past high-earning performers like Bad Bunny and Ariana Grande have collected between $5M and $8M, per the Trapital Podcast.