frontline
LARRY MESTEL, CEO, PRIMARY WAVE
Over the last 15 years, Primary Wave has become an independent music publishing and management powerhouse. Here, founder & CEO Larry Mestel reflects on his rivals, reveals further huge investment plans and opens up about the Whitney Houston biopic...
What’s Primary Wave’s growth strategy? “We’ve been expanding quite rapidly. We have closed quite a few deals in the last few months – everything from Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons to Olivia Newton-John. The Stevie Nicks deal we just did is enormously important. She is one of the most revered female rock stars of all time. Not only did we buy a significant interest in her publishing, but we made an all-encompassing deal to include helping to market her name and likeness and a publishing JV for her to nurture new songwriters.”
Primary Wave deals go beyond publishing – does that give you an edge? “We’ve proven that when those rights are included in deals, we’re not passive like a lot of our competitors. The Whitney Houston film [I Wanna Dance With Somebody starring Naomi Ackie] is a perfect example. We have partnered with the estate, Anthony McCarten who wrote Bohemian Rhapsody, Clive Davis and Compelling Pictures to put together an absolutely fantastic biographical film. It begins shooting in May and will be released in the back end of 2022.”
What other plans do you have for Whitney Houston’s music? “We have done a lot of work with Whitney. We have a fantastic relationship with [estate president/CEO] Pat Houston, together we’ve been really increasing Whitney’s brand presence and revenue stream. A good example of that was the cover of Higher Love that we found in the vault and worked with RCA to release. We got Kygo to remix that and it became a hit record around the world. That’s the art of making publishing, master recordings and brands more valuable. And Steve Winwood got the benefit of all of our hard work on that song!”
believes they’re competitors” LARRY MESTEL, PRIMARY WAVE
“Everyone with a chequebook out there now
How do you secure big deals in a competitive environment? “We’re dramatically different to our competition. Our best references are the artists we work with, because we actually deliver on the marketing, branding and digital strategies we talk about. A perfect example: we created a [US] holiday for Smokey Robinson [Father-Daughter Day, October 10]. Artists see those types of things, and they want them for themselves. That’s a big reason why we’ve garnered probably the largest share of iconic and legendary artists that have sold their catalogues in the last three years.”
Who do you see as your main rivals in the music business? “Everyone with a chequebook out there now believes they’re competitors. But we’re in the icon and legend business. As a result, we only have 18,000 songs, whereas some of our competitors have millions of songs. It’s why we can focus so well and deliver for artists. Clearly, there’s a lot of competition with people that have money and that want to write cheques. It’s just that artists don’t necessarily look at the size of the cheque as being the most important thing.”
Round Hill and Hipgnosis launched IPOs, do you plan to go public? “First of all, we have an enormous amount of capital. We have close to $1.5 billion of cash and assets, so it’s a very large war chest. We are strategising right now on additional capital, and a public option is certainly one option.”
Do you have any concerns about the copyrights market overheating? “Premium assets go for premium prices. What we bought Bob Marley for was not insignificant. But people underestimate what happens when you purchase newer music: there is a significant decay in the revenue stream. So if you’re buying high on the way in, it’s very tough to deliver returns to investors. That’s why we stay away from relatively new music and focus on icons, where we can drive opportunity to create new revenue streams – that’s been our focus.”
musicweek.com Music Week | 11
PHOTO: Primary Wave
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