Primary Wave Adds Sarah McLachlan to Music Catalog Roster Alongside Bob Marley, Whitney Houston

Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLaughan joined the growing list of artists to sell a majority stake in her catalog Tuesday with a deal with Primary Wave, the private-equity backed publishing powerhouse that already holds the rights to a thick portfolio of artists.

The company did not reveal the exact stake it will hold or the terms of the pact with the Grammy-winning artist behind hits like “I Will Remember You,” “Angel” and “Hold On.”

Similar recent deals with have netted hundreds of millions for artists. In December, Justin Bieber sold his catalog to Hipgnosis for $200 million, the largest deal for any artist in his generation. McLaughlan most certainly received less than the $500 million Bruce Springsteen pocketed in his catalog sale to Sony, but the deal nevertheless reflects the continued appetite for music rights.

The flood of sales reflects wholesale changes in the music industry that make it more difficult for performers to earn from releasing recordings amid the shift to streaming. The COVID-19 pandemic’s shutdown of live music performance hastened the decisions by artists to lock in the value of their work, which is in high demand for a range of advertising, streaming and other deals.

Also Read:
No One’s to Blame for ChatGPT’s Made-Up ‘Facts’ About ’80s Synth-Pop Icon Howard Jones | PRO Insight

Primary Wave boasts a roster of catalogs that includes music legends like Bob Marley, Whitney Houston, James Brown, Ray Charles, Stevie Nicks, Joey Ramone, Burt Bararach, Smokey Robinson and even iconic crooner Bing Crosby. It also holds half the Prince estate and the Sun Records catalog. It backed the Houston biopic, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” last year and has a docuseries on Brown, “Say It Loud,” in the works.

Last year, Primary Wave entered a $2 billion partnership with Canadian mega-investment firm Brookfield Asset Management to back additional catalog investments. “Increasing demand for content from streaming services and social media make iconic music IP a scarce and irreplaceable asset,” Angelo Rufino, a managing partner at Brookfield, said at the time, pointing toward licensing for services from Peloton to TikTok. “One of the cheapest forms of entertainment is going to keep finding ways to weave itself into our everyday consciousness and that just means more revenue.”

Private equity money from Blackstone is also behind Hipgnosis, as investors see the potential for steady earnings from use of the songs in a digital world.

McLaughlan’s relationship with Primary Wave will include access to the company’s marketing and publishing operations, which includes licensing, film & TV production. The company will also work to help McLaughlin market her name and likeness.

Also Read:
Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit Files for Bankruptcy, Plans to Sell Itself

McLaughlan is best known for “Surfacing,” the 1997 album that netted her first two Grammys. The hit “Angel” from that album has long been featured in heartwrenching ads for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) depicting the plight of abused dogs and cats.

She was also the founder of the all-female Lilith Fair tour, which ran for three years in the 1990s and raised over $7 million for local and national charities.