May 9 (Reuters) - Apollo-backed Concord said on Thursday

it will stick with its offer of $1.25 apiece for Hipgnosis Songs

Fund ( HPGSF ), days after Blackstone outbid it for the

music rights owner of artists such as Shakira and Red Hot Chili

Peppers.

The $1.51 billion offer from Nashville-based Concord was its

second proposal for the music rights investor as it battled

Blackstone for rights to more than 65,000 songs, including

tracks by Blondie and Neil Young.

Blackstone, the world's largest private equity firm, had

hiked its offer to $1.30 per share or about $1.57 billion in

April, above Concord's bid to win Hipgnosis's board backing for

the deal.

Concord is indirectly controlled by Alchemy Copyrights,

which acquired music investor and Hipgnosis's peer Round Hill

Music last year.

Blackstone is a majority shareholder in Hipgnosis'

investment adviser, HSM, which manages artists and songwriters

for the fund and holds a call option to make a higher offer for

Hipgnosis' portfolio if their advisory agreement were to be

terminated.

The Blackstone proposal is independent of HSM.

Hipgnosis, founded by industry veteran and ex-CEO Merck

Mercuriadis in 2018, started a strategic review last year after

a shareholder vote against the continuation of the fund led to a

tumultuous period and a dispute with HSM over the call option.