State Champ Radio Primary Wave Music
Primary Wave Music strikes a deal to acquire Neil Finn’s music publishing catalog and writer’s share of public performance for his work with Crowded House, the legendary Kiwi artist’s folk-rock favorites.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Songs included in the deal are the classics “Better Be Home Soon,” “Weather With You” and “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” a Billboard chart leader.
Through the partnership, announced this week, Primary Wave Music will also represent Finn’s solo material.
Trending on Billboard
“I look forward to seeing Primary Wave’s plan for the ongoing care of my songs. I am confident they see the body of my work as music that matters,” says Finn in a statement. “This deal has been a good while in the making and feels right.”
The New Zealand-born and based artist is widely regarded as one of the greatest contemporary songwriters in the game, and is a member of the ARIA Hall of Fame.
“We are thrilled to welcome Neil Finn to Primary Wave,” adds Primary Wave’s David Weitzman. “Not only is he a master songwriter, he is the songwriters’ favorite songwriter. We look forward to working closely with Neil and his great team at Shelter Management on the next stages of his storied career.”
The alliance is announced ahead of Crowded House’s eighth studio album Gravity Stairs, set for release May 31 through a new recording deal with BMG.
Finn co-founded Split Enz, an important alternative rock outfit that landed hit after hit in Australia and New Zealand, prior to their dissolution in 1984.
From its embers, Finn formed Crowded House. A U.S. breakthrough happened in April 1987 when “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” recorded by the classic lineup of Finn (singer, songwriter, guitar), Nick Seymour (bass) and the late drummer Paul Hester, peaked at No. 2 back.
The song made a mighty comeback last year. Thanks to a sync to an episode of the rebooted detective classic Magnum P.I., “Don’t Dream It’s Over” powered to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top TV Songs chart.
Crowded House was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2016, in recognition of a glorious career during which they’ve sold more than 10 million albums, collected 13 ARIA Awards, and five ARIA No. 1 albums.
Their 2010 hits compilation Recurring Dream also topped the Official U.K. Albums Chart and is one of four Crowded House album to crack the top 10 in that territory.
Gravity Stairs is the followup to Dreamers Are Waiting, which peaked at No. 2 in Australia, No. 6 on the Official U.K. Chart, and won best adult contemporary album at the 2021 ARIA Awards.
Founded in 2006, Primary Wave Music is one of the world’s leading independent publishers, representing music from the likes of Bob Marley, Prince, Stevie Nicks, James Brown, The Doors, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, Smokey Robinson, Whitney Houston and many others.
Primary Wave has partnered with Neil Sedaka to acquire a stake in the star’s master and publishing rights. Regarded as perhaps the world’s first-ever teen pop star, Sedaka began his career in 1957 and went on to pen hits like “Love Will Keep Us Together,” “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” “Laughter in the Rain,” “Calendar Girl,” “Oh! Carol” and “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen.”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Sedaka has earned his fair share of accolades over the years, including five Grammy nominations. He has been inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and was one of the first musical guests on Saturday Night Live.
After getting his start as one of the top acts of the late 1950s, he pivoted to focusing his efforts on writing hits for other artists, including Frank Sinatra, Tom Jones, The Monkees and The Fifth Dimension.
Trending on Billboard
During the height of the British Invasion, he continued to hone a strong fanbase in the UK, and in the early 1970s was re-introduced to American audiences by Elton John, who signed Sedaka to his new label Rocket Records. As he gained acclaim through songs like “Bad Blood” and “Laughter in the Rain” under the Rocket deal, one of his early songs, “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do,” was re-released as a ballad to great success, becoming the second song in history to make the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 for two versions of the same song. Plus, Captain and Tennille won Record of the Year for “Love Will Keep Us Together,” which was co-penned by Sedaka.
A classically trained Juilliard graduate, Sedaka embraced his roots in the 21st century, composing symphonies and piano concertos like “Joie De Vivre” and “Manhattan Intermezzo,” both of which were recorded with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London.
This deal encompasses Sedaka’s entire catalog, including all compositions written by him and all recordings performed by him. Other legendary artists have also performed and recorded his works, including Elvis Presley, Connie Francis and Abba. While these recordings are not part of the deal, Primary Wave still benefits on the publishing side, given Sedaka’s writing credits.
Primary Wave, known as an active and creative catalog buyer and publisher, will help boost Sedaka’s works with the help of its in-house marketing, digital strategy, licensing, synch and film/tv production teams.
“I am thrilled to be entering into this partnership with Primary Wave – an organization that I have long-admired for their unwavering commitment and dedication to the artists they represent,” says Sedaka of the deal. “After almost 70 years in the music business, I’ve gotten pretty good at separating the big talkers from the real deals, and Larry and his team at Primary Wave are about as real deal as it gets. I look forward to a long and prosperous relationship that will allow me to work side by side with this amazing organization and finally give my extensive collection of songs the attention and exposure it deserves.”
Madeline Boyd, Primary Wave’s finance & investments manager adds, “We are thrilled to welcome Neil Sedaka into the Primary Wave family. As both a singer and songwriter, Neil has created an iconic catalog that has transcended decades and genres. We look forward to continue creating new opportunities for his timeless songs together.”
Primary Wave Music has finalized a deal with the Village People to control the rights to the group’s master recording and publishing assets as well as the rights to their name and likeness. In what is described as a “partnership” with the surviving family of Village People co-founder Henri Belolo — Jonathan and Anthony Belolo — Primary Wave will now look after “Y.M.C.A.,” “Macho Man” and other hits from the group.
Founded in 1977, Village People was started by producer Jacques Morali and his partner Belolo who were working with singer and Broadway actor Victor Willis to provide background vocals for a different musical project. Then Morali told Willis, “I had a dream you sang lead vocals on an album I produced and it went very, very big.” Following his gut, Willis sang four tracks for Morali and Belolo (“San Francisco [You’ve Got Me]” “In Hollywood [Everyone’s a Star],” “Fire Island,” and “Village People”). Quickly, the Village People project became a sensation with their songs climbing to the top of the charts, and Willis, Morali, Belolo formed it as an official group, adding in the rag tag team of Felipe Rose, Alex Briley, Mark Mussler, David Forrest, Lee Mouton and Peter Whitehead to fill out its ranks.
Later, they added Randy Jones, Glenn Hughes and David Hodo to the ensemble after placing an ad in a trade paper that read: “Macho Types Wanted for World-Famous Disco Group.” Donning stereotypical “macho” costumes — like construction work, biker, cowboy and more — group went on to pen defining hits and become a symbol of the Disco era. To this day, the group continues, now comprised of Willis, Angel Morales, James Kwong, Chad Freeman, James Lee, and James J.J. Lippold.
Trending on Billboard
“As we were picking up the mantle following our father’s passing in 2019, we soon realized that – to achieve his dreams of bringing the Village People ideal into the 21st century the right way is a very bold endeavor,” say the Belolos in a joint statement. “Our partnership with the amazing team at Primary Wave now brings us the backup and expertise that will ensure we can rise to the task together. With multiple projects in development, the future looks bright as ever for the Village People!”
“The Village People have brought so much joy to listeners around the world for decades,” says Lexi Todd, vp of business and legal affairs at Primary Wave Music. “With disco-inspired music all over the contemporary charts, now is the perfect time to launch our new partnership. We look forward to working alongside Jonathan and Anthony to reinvigorate the Village People brand.”
Primary Wave’s annual pre-Grammy party went down Saturday night at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, and this year, for the first time, it celebrated Billboard No. 1s.So it makes sense that a crowd of hitmakers was in the building to celebrate Grammy Weekend, including Jon Bon Jovi, who had just been honored the night prior as MusiCares Person of the Year and is the voice of four Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits with his namesake band. Melissa Etheridge was also there, alongside wife Linda Wallem, and she’s a Billboard chart-topper too, including the Adult Contemporary No. 1 smash “I’m the Only One.”
Then there was Bell Biv DeVoe — the trio of Ricky Bell, Michael Bivens and Ronnie DeVoe — who scored three No. 1s on Billboard‘s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in their early ’90s heyday. They were the perfect people for Billboard‘s Rania Aniftos to ask “what is the key to making a hit song?” on the red carpet Saturday night.
“Be yourself, have fun, make sure you’re enjoying it,” Bell offered. “Make sure it’s what you would really listen to when you go to the clubs or jump in your car. Just keep it true in that aspect.”
Bivens chimed in next: “I would say get a hot beat. Don’t nothing happen without the beat. Then go straight to the chorus and get something that they want to remember. And then just tell a story that you think connects to men and women.”
Finally, DeVoe said, “It’s about that moment in time too, like being real as far as what you’re feeling in your life at that time. The biggest albums were about a moment in time in any given artist’s career. Whether it’s Prince, Purple Rain or Mary J. Blige, What’s the 411? There’s so many classics based on people’s pain and their victory at any time. A song should speak to that.”
CeeLo was in charge of the night’s music, spinning everything from Usher’s “Yeah!” and Too $hort’s “Blow the Whistle” to his own “F**k You! (Forget You),” a No. 1 hit on Billboard‘s Pop Airplay chart in 2011.
Also at the Waldorf Astoria for the party: Lauren Spencer-Smith, Fifth Harmony alumni Ally Brooke & Dinah Jane, Grandmaster Flash, Gavin Rossdale, “Lovin On Me” co-writer & co-producer Sean Momberger, Johnny Gill, Bonnie McKee, Israeli & Palestinian boy band as1one, Eric Benét, charlieonafriday, Pat Houston, Donna Houston, Damien “DDOT” Washington, Domani Harris, Armani White, James Charles, Crystal Kung MinkoffDom Fenison & Chanel West Coast, Terry Washington and, last but not least, The Hamburglar, who surprised the party with Happy Meal boxes filled with McDonald’s cheeseburgers and french fries.
Find photos from the party below:
Lauren Spencer-Smith
Image Credit: Elyse Jankowski for Billboard
Lauren Spencer-Smith at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Melissa Etheridge & Linda Wallem
Image Credit: Elyse Jankowski for Billboard
Melissa Etheridge and Linda Wallem at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
as1one
Image Credit: Elyse Jankowski for Billboard
Sadik Dogosh, Neta Rozenblat, Ohad Attia, Aseel Farah, Nadav Philips and Niv Lin of as1one at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Ghostwriter
Image Credit: Elyse Jankowski for Billboard
Ghostwriter at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Grandmaster Flash
Image Credit: Elyse Jankowski for Billboard
Grandmaster Flash at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Gavin Rossdale
Image Credit: Elyse Jankowski for Billboard
Gavin Rossdale at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
charlieonafriday
Image Credit: Elyse Jankowski for Billboard
charlieonafriday at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Bell Biv DeVoe
Image Credit: Elyse Jankowski for Billboard
Ricky Bell, Ronnie DeVoe and Michael Bivins of Bell Biv DeVoe at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Pat Houston
Image Credit: Elyse Jankowski for Billboard
Pat Houston at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Donna Houston
Image Credit: Elyse Jankowski for Billboard
Donna Houston at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Bonnie McKee
Image Credit: Elyse Jankowski for Billboard
Bonnie McKee at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Damien “DDOT” Washington
Image Credit: Elyse Jankowski for Billboard
Damien “DDOT” Washington at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Sean Momberger
Image Credit: Elyse Jankowski for Billboard
Sean Momberger at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Domani Harris
Image Credit: Elyse Jankowski for Billboard
Domani Harris at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Eric Benét
Image Credit: Elyse Jankowski for Billboard
Eric Benét at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
CeeLo Green & Armani White
Image Credit: Christopher Polk for Billboard
CeeLo Green and Armani White at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Ally Brooke & Dinah Jane
Image Credit: Christopher Polk for Billboard
Ally Brooke and Dinah Jane at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Johnny Gill & Ricky Bell
Image Credit: Christopher Polk for Billboard
Johnny Gill and Ricky Bell at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
James Charles
Image Credit: Christopher Polk for Billboard
James Charles at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Crystal Kung Minkoff
Image Credit: Christopher Polk for Billboard
Crystal Kung Minkoff at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Dom Fenison & Chanel West Coast
Image Credit: Christopher Polk for Billboard
Dom Fenison and Chanel West Coast at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Terry Washington & Eric Benét
Image Credit: Christopher Polk for Billboard
Terry Washington and Eric Benét at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Jon Bon Jovi
Image Credit: Christopher Polk for Billboard
Jon Bon Jovi at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
The Hamburglar & CeeLo Green
Image Credit: Christopher Polk for Billboard
The Hamburglar and CeeLo Green at the Primary Wave x Billboard Grammy Party held at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills on Feb. 3, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Two days after Universal Music Group (UMG) announced it would likely pull its music catalog from TikTok over a licensing dispute, indie publishing giant Primary Wave Music has come out in support of the company’s decision.
In a statement released Thursday (Feb. 1), Primary Wave, led by founder/CEO Larry Mestel, said it applauds UMG “for standing up to TikTok and its blatant disregard for artists and songwriters” while blasting TikTok’s response to UMG’s decision, which UMG announced in an open letter addressed to its artists and songwriters on Tuesday (Jan. 30).
“The notion that TikTok would try to rationalize willfully underpaying artists because, the platform says, it offers artists ‘promotion’ is a decades-old canard that has no place in any modern music business,” the Primary Wave statement continues. “Artists and songwriters need to be compensated appropriately for their work and protected from unethical uses of AI. Period. We’re proud to stand alongside UMG and the artist advocates that have called upon TikTok to appropriately pay and protect the songwriters and artists who are critical to the growth and cultural relevance of the platform.”
Primary Wave represents multiple artists and estates with deals with UMG, including Olivia Newton John and Bob Marley.
In UMG’s open letter, the company — which boasts such superstars as Taylor Swift, BTS, Drake and The Weeknd on its roster — announced that all UMG music would be removed from TikTok after its current licensing deal expired Thursday (Jan. 31) while citing deep disagreements over artist compensation, artificial intelligence, TikTok’s alleged failure to combat infringing musical works and user safety. It also accused TikTok of attempting to “bully” UMG “into accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth” by threatening to selectively remove the music of some of UMG’s developing artists.
Just hours later, TikTok responded by accusing UMG of putting “greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters” while slamming what it called UMG’s “false narrative and rhetoric…the fact is they have chosen to walk away from the powerful support of a platform with well over a billion users that serves as a free promotional and discovery vehicle for their talent.”
On Thursday (Feb. 1), UMG responded to TikTok by saying the platform’s own statement “perfectly sums up its woefully outdated view: Even though TikTok (formerly Musical.ly) has built one of the world’s largest and most valuable social media platforms off the backs of artists and songwriters, TikTok still argues that artists should be grateful for the ‘free promotion’ and that music companies are ‘greedy’ for expecting them to simply compensate artists and songwriters appropriately, and on similar levels as other social media platforms currently do.”
UMG’s catalog began disappearing from TikTok on Thursday.
The estate of late Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland has partnered with Primary Wave Music to mine new opportunities for the singer-songwriter’s music and overall legacy, it was announced on Wednesday (Jan. 24).
Under the deal, Primary Wave will partner with the estate to capitalize on Weiland’s publishing copyrights and recording royalties for all songs and recordings by Stone Temple Pilots, his later group, Velvet Revolver, and his solo output.
The agreement also gives Primary Wave a share of Weiland’s name, image and likeness rights, while the estate will be given access to the company’s marketing team and publishing infrastructure. The two entities will work closely on new marketing, branding, digital and synch opportunities along with film and TV projects.
Formed in 1989 by Weiland, Dean DeLeo, Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz, Stone Temple Pilots released a total of six studio albums with Weiland as frontman, four of which hit the top 10 on the Billboard 200 and one of which (Purple) debuted at No. 1 on the chart. Velvet Revolver also saw success, with the band’s 2004 debut, Contraband, landing at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and its second and final album, Libertad, debuting at No. 5 on the tally. As a solo artist, Weiland released a total of three studio albums and one with his band the Wildabouts in 2015.
Weiland scored six Grammy nominations during his lifetime and won two — one for best hard rock performance with vocal for Stone Temple Pilots’ 1993 single, “Plush,” the other for best hard rock performance for Velvet Revolver’s 2004 single, “Slither.”
“There are few rock artists that had the impact that Scott Weiland did on music,” said Larry Mestel, CEO/founder of Primary Wave Music, in a statement. “We are honored to partner with Scott’s family on such a legendary catalog of music and career. Scott’s influence on music is unparalleled and he remains one of the most influential musicians in rock music. We are extremely grateful the estate has chosen to partner with us to continue to grow his incredible legacy.”
“We believe that Primary Wave are the perfect partners to secure Scott’s legacy as one of the great front men in rock history,” added Brian Harris Frank of Shelter Music Group and Dana Dufine of DBD Squared Entertainment, who manage Weiland’s estate. “We look forward to working with Larry, Natalia, Adam, and their teams and believe that their ability to connect artists with culture will ensure that Scott’s impact will be felt for generations.”
Natalia Nastaskin, chief content officer at Primary Wave, added, “Scott is the original influencer. The stories behind his undeniably authentic lyrics, effervescent performances, impeccable fashion sense, and meteoric rise to stardom are a filmmaker’s dream. I’m thrilled to work with Scott’s family, as well as Dana and Brian, on expanding and extending Scott’s legacy through new compelling IP projects across film, television, and stage.”
Weiland died of an accidental drug overdose on Dec. 3, 2015. He was 48.
Primary Wave has purchased a stake in the publishing catalog of Kool & The Gang founding band member and drummer George Brown, the company announced Wednesday (June 28). The sale also includes a stake in the Grammy winner’s writer’s share of his music publishing and the writer’s share of his public performance income.
The deal — which includes classics like “Ladies Night,” “Celebration,” “Get Down on It,” “Cherish,” “Jungle Boogie,” “Summer Madness” and more — is in the multi-million dollar range, according to Primary Wave.
In addition to Brown, Kool & The Gang is comprised of Robert “Kool” Bell, Ronald Bell, Dennis “Dee Tee” Thomas, Robert “Spike” Mickens, Charles Smith, Woodrow “Woody” Sparrow and Ricky West. The Jersey City troupe first got its start on indie label De-Lite Records, which released the band’s debut album, Kool and the Gang, in 1969. The group broke through in 1973 with its fourth album, Wild and Peaceful, which contained hits like “Jungle Boogie” and “Hollywood Swinging.” Pulling from funk, soul, R&B, disco and jazz influences, Kool & The Gang’s work also played a defining role in the soundtracks for Rocky (1976) and Saturday Night Fever (1977).
For its impressive body of work, Kool & the Gang has received two Grammy awards, seven American Music Awards and was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. The group also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, while Brown — along with bandmates Taylor and Robert and Ronald Bell — was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.
“I am very pleased to call Primary Wave my music partner and to join with dozens of other iconic artists and creatives in an incredible business family,” said Brown of the deal. “I look forward to collaborating with Larry Mestel and the entire Primary Wave team to further enhance my catalog and the Kool & The Gang brand.”
Kendall A. Minter, Brown’s legal counsel, added, “As counsel to George Brown and Astana Music, it was my pleasure to initiate, negotiate and close this deal with Primary Wave. The alignment of a globally iconic artist and creative talent with an iconic, global independent music publisher and brand enhancer is a win-win for the entire music community and fans.”
“Kool and the Gang’s influence on generations of musicians and fans around the globe cannot be denied,” said Primary Wave senior vp of business and legal affairs Samantha Rhulen. “A few of us from Primary Wave were excited to have been in the audience when they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018, and we are so thrilled to now be partnering with George Brown in 2023.”
Steve Butler was named head of legal & business affairs, North America at Warner Chappell Music. Butler will support the publisher’s U.S. (including Nashville and U.S. Latin) and Canadian markets while working closely with various departments to ensure cohesion across its North American operations. He will continue reporting to Warner Chappell executive vp/global head of legal & business affairs Peter Rosenthal. Butler was previously senior vp of legal & business affairs; among other deals, he oversaw the company’s purchase of David Bowie‘s catalog.
Warner Music Group’s WMX announced several new hires: Karl Walsh as executive vp/head of global commerce; Brian Furano as global head of A&R; and Robbie Owens-Russo as senior vp of creative services. Additionally, the company announced the following promotions: Tracy Stone to head of artist and fan experiences, North America; Bob Workman to head of WMX artist & fan experience, UK & rest of the world/senior vp of international artist & brand partners; and Angela Nguyen to head of global commercial operations. The new appointments mark a major overhaul of WMX’s merchandise, commerce, partnerships and ops teams. Walsh can be reached at Karl.Walsh@wmg.com, Furano can be reached at Brian.Furano@wmg.com, Owens-Russo can be reached at robbie.owens-russo@wmg.com, Stone can be reached at Tracy.Stone@wmg.com and Workman can be reached at Bob.Workman@warnermusic.com.
David Loiterton was hired as president, Indo-Pacific at Primary Wave Music. Based in Hong Kong, Loiterton will be tasked with managing the company’s catalog while driving investment in music IP across the region, particularly in India, Japan, Korea, China and Australia as well as emerging Southeast Asian markets. He can be reached at dloiterton@primarywave.com.
SESAC Performing Rights promoted Erin Collins to senior vp of film/TV creative services. The Billboard 2022 Women in Music honoree will continue overseeing SESAC’s network of composers and publishers.
Independent dance label Armada Music announced several new hires and promotions: Madeleine van Schendel was named chief growth officer; Jop Bonnike was promoted to COO; and Michel Peek was promoted to GM of publishing. Additionally, Nadine van Bodegraven moved from Armada’s executive team to join its investment company BEAT as COO.
Attorney Kenneth T. Deutsch joined law firm Paul Hastings as a partner and global co-chair of its entertainment and media practice. He joins from Latham & Watkins, where he served as global co-chair of the firm’s entertainment, sports and media group.
Island Records announced the promotions of Hannah Colson to director of artist development and Sam Lunn to director of strategic marketing.
MNRK Music Group promoted Brandon Squar to GM and Ebrahim “Abe” Rasheed to senior vp of urban. Squar will oversee commerce, marketing, project management and publicity for the company’s artists while Rasheed will spearhead all efforts in A&R and artist development for MNRK’s urban roster.
Tamaya Petteway was named senior vp of partnerships at Dick Clark Productions, where she will be tasked with securing brand partnerships across the company’s live event programming, including the American Music Awards, the Country Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, the Streamy Awards, So You Think You Can Dance and The Golden Globes. Petteway joins the company from Endemol Shine North America, where she most recently served as senior vp of brand partnerships, licensing and digital.
Ariana White was promoted to vp of publicity at Atlantic Records. She currently handles publicity for Atlantic signees Kali, Mahalia, Rico Nasty, Ckay, No Cap and Quando Rondo, among others.
The Black Music Action Coalition and Audiomack announced a paid internship and mentorship program designed to discover the next generation of Black executives in the music industry and named several executives as mentors. They are: Artistry Group CEO Max Gousee, The Blueprint Group CMO/partner Al Branch, Biz 3 Publicity CEO Kathryn Frazier, CAA agent Yves Pierre, 10Q Management CEO Lydia Asrat and AEG talent buyer Marcus “Don Dada” Johnson. Prospective candidates to the program can apply here.
Troy Skabelund joined artist financing company beatBread as CFO. Skabelund is also founder/CEO of the small business consulting network Advisory Zone.
Boutique entertainment law firm Ritholz Levy Fields promoted three attorneys to partner: Cody Brown (New York), Jenna Harris (Nashville) and Dan Zupnick (New York). Brown can be reached at cbrown@rlfllp.com, Harris can be reached at jharris@rlfllp.com and Zupnick can be reached at dzupnick@rlfllp.com.
Lauren Kreisler was promoted to director of brand & digital for the Official Charts Company in the UK, a newly created role. Her expanded role comes ahead of the company’s refreshed brand identity and consumer-facing digital platform in the coming weeks. Kreisler can be reached at lauren@officialcharts.com.
Anna Desalu was named vp of commerce and sales at record label Blac Noize! (Big Machine/SB Projects), where she will lead streaming initiatives for the company’s roster, including by cultivating digital partnerships and editorial placement. She joins the company from Warner Music Group/Atlantic Records’ Asylum Records, where she was director of sales and commerce.
Audioshake co-founder/CEO Jessica Powell has joined the advisory board of digital music distribution platform Octiive, joining SoundCloud chief product officer Rohit Agarwal and Meta head of UK and Ireland venture capital & partnerships Rowly Bourne.
Primary Wave Music has acquired the artist royalties of late Lynyrd Skynyrd founding member and drummer Bob Burns, whose credits include recordings on the band’s first two albums, 1973’s (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) and 1974’s Second Helping, plus subsequent compilations that those tracks appear on. While exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, the company said it was a multi-million deal.
In the U.S., the Southern rock band’s entire catalog has averaged 666,000 album consumption units over the last three years, according to Luminate. Of that, the band’s Second Helping album accounted for almost 182,000 units over that time period, while the historical data for the first album was unavailable from Luminate at press time. Those albums include many of their signature songs, namely “Free Bird,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Gimme Three Steps,” and “Simple Man.”
“Lynyrd Skynyrd’s first two albums are timeless and are celebrated to this day,” Primary Wave Music’s svp of business & legal affairs Samantha Rhulen said in a statement. She goes on: “To have Bob Burns’ contribution to this iconic music as part of our catalog is an incredible honor and the team at Primary Wave will ensure that his legacy is recognized by generations to come.”
Burns died in a car accident on April 3, 2015 in Cartersville, Ga. at the age of 64. The band’s last surviving original member, Gary Rossington, died earlier this month at 71.
According to Luminate, Skynyrd has garnered 27.1 million album consumption units in the U.S. According to the Primary Wave announcement, the band has been ranked on several best-of lists, including Rolling Stone‘s “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” — and in 2006, they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Primary Wave continues to be a leading buyer of legacy rock and R&B. In the last six months, it has acquired entirely or an interest in the publishing and/or recording artist royalty income streams in the catalogs of Doors members Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek, punk icon Joey Ramone, songwriter and E Street Band member Stevie Van Zandt, and Huey Lewis and The News.
-
Pages
