TEAM

Adam Lowenberg

Chief Marketing Officer

Adam brings 17 years of music industry experience to Primary Wave. He is responsible for all marketing related activities within the organization. Most recently, Mr. Lowenberg was Sr. VP of Marketing for Island Def Jam. He also served as Sr. VP of Marketing at Virgin Records and VP of Marketing at Arista Records. Adam’s career has been punctuated by the multi-platinum success of such global superstars as Avril Lavigne, Dido, Sarah McLachlan, Pink, Rihanna and Bon Jovi.

 

Rob Dippold

Partner & Chief Digital Strategy Officer
Rob began his music career in marketing and rose to General Manager at Ruffhouse Records, a pioneering Sony Music record label that has sold over 100 million albums worldwide with artists Lauryn Hill, The Fugees, Cypress Hill, Wyclef Jean, Kris Kross, and others. He has an extensive history working in the music industry from marketing and promotion to publishing, management, and merchandising.

Rob served at Warner Music Group’s distribution arm, W.E.A. Corp. in 2003, developing retail and account-based marketing initiatives for WMG artists including T.I., Linkin Park, Metallica, Missy Elliot, Sean Paul, and others.

In 2005, Dippold became Partner & General Manager of Trustkill Records, an independent industry-leading entertainment company partnered with Sony and Universal Publishing. Trustkill was instrumental in launching and breaking influential bands in the metal and hardcore rock scene including Bullet For My Valentine, Eighteen Visions, Poison The Well amongst others. Under the Trustkill brand, Rob was actively involved in the digital & mobile technology space including developing and launching “MobileThreat” the first-ever mobile content destination platform dedicated to the metal & punk music genres, as well as other lifestyle branded websites and virtual reality communities.

In 2010, he became a Partner & President of Digital Strategy & Marketing at Primary Wave Entertainment where he is charged with developing creative digital marketing campaigns, strategic partnerships, as well as building e-commerce, and direct to fan initiatives. In addition, Dippold also actively seeks, signs, and develops talent and new business opportunities. Most recently Rob’s work on Def Leppard’s 30th Anniversary of Hysteria album was named “Best Music Marketing Campaigns” by Music Ally’s Sandbox.  In 2019 Rob was featured in Billboards “Digital Power Players” list.

Dippold attended The Pennsylvania State University and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the School of Business in Marketing & Management.

 

Jeff Straughn

Chief Branding Officer

With over thirty years of core marketing experience, Jeff Straughn worked for global advertising agencies before transitioning to sports, entertainment and music where he ran the partnership group at global powerhouse Octagon.

By the early 2000s, Straughn had leveraged his brand experience and was hired by and reported directly to Mr, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Mr. Antonio “LA” Reid. Straughn was quickly challenged to build a new strategic marketing department for Island Records and Def Jam Recordings (IDJ) that would help generate new income in support of their artists and new releases. Straughn was a senior member of the leadership team at IDJ where he quickly became a trendsetter in how brands and artists work together, creating disruptive and creative concepts supporting the artist and their new work.

In 2008, Straughn met his current partner and the founder of Primary Wave, Larry Mestel. Collectively, they built the blueprint for Primary Wave’s brand strategy. The goal was simple: build a team to support both artist management clients as well as the growing and diverse music publishing catalog. Additionally, Straughn and Mestel set up a branding agency known as Brand Synergy Group to serve as a consultant for third-party brands in the entertainment/music space.

Since joining Primary Wave, Straughn has developed and executed a multitude of brand partnerships through a combination of traditional endorsements, private performances, and a breakthrough of new intellectual properties that leverage Primary Wave’s copyrights and/or the artist brand ID. Each of these opportunities result in equity that is co-owned by Primary Wave and the other parties.

Straughn seeks innovative programs to deliver a win for the brand, the artist and Primary Wave. “We look at all sides of the equation as we develop each concept” says Straughn, “no two programs are ever the same.” Primary Wave believes that any and all partnerships must be results driven and are measured against a set of KPIs that are mutually beneficial for all parties. As a result, Straughn has established a long-standing list of brand partners that continues to expand and evolve as the company grows.

Additionally, for over 12 years, Straughn has leveraged his vast marketing and experiential skills to raise the Primary Wave brand profile. Each year, Straughn has built a premium VIP Primary Wave branded hospitality event during the Grammy’s. In 2019, Straughn raised the bar again by producing a full week activation and rebranding an elite hotel in West Hollywood to One Love Hotel in an effort to celebrate 75 years of Bob Marley, a marquee catalog co-owned by Primary Wave and the Marley family.
Straughn currently resides in Austin, Texas, where he moved in 2018 after spending his entire career in the northeast.

Straughn is married to a lovely wife and has two children currently in college. When not at work, he finds his passion in the kitchen, cooking and exploring new varietals to build on his wine collection.

 

Catie Monck

Sr. V.P. Publicity

Catie began her public relations career in 1998 with an internship at Epic Records.  From there she went on to work with the teams at Shore Fire Media, d.baron media, Miles Copeland’s label Ark 21, O&M Company, Concord Music Group and Wind up Records. In 2014, she launched i see you publicity and joined Primary Wave in 2016. Throughout her 16 years in the industry, Catie has worked with an incredible group of artists and actors across all genres of music and entertainment. Her work was instrumental in the success of publicity campaigns for the likes of Phil Ramone, Paula Abdul, Wayne Brady, Randy Jackson, Creed, Evanescence, Bayside, Christian Scott, Enrique Iglesias, Blondie, Chick Corea, Bela Fleck, Civil Twilight, Emily Osment, Kawehi, Lee Pace, Kate Moennig, Staceyann Chin, Nona Hendryx, Luscious Jackson, and more.

 

Donna Grecco

V.P. Creative Marketing & Asset Management

 

Ken Davenport

Theatrical Development

 

Robert Kraft

I.P. Creation, Film/TV

 

Laurel Sterns

IP Creation

 

Jack LeVine

Marketing Manager
Jack began his career in music as a College Marketing Rep for Universal Music Group while attending the University of Miami. He graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration with a focus in Marketing, Music Business, and Finance. Soon after he moved back to New York and joined the Tour Marketing team at Paradigm Talent Agency. At Paradigm he and the team served as the driving force behind tour marketing campaigns for many artists including Above & Beyond, Gucci Mane, Matt and Kim, Pink Sweat$, Jack Harlow, Tiësto, Why Don’t We, Zedd and many others. Collaborating with artist’s and their respective agents, managers, labels, and publicists Jack spearheaded creative direction and marketing strategy on each tour.

 

Jared Auslander

Marketing Coordinator
Jared graduated from NYU with a degree in Jazz Performance in May 2020. While at NYU, Jared studied and performed with musicians such as Lenny White, John Scofield, Lenny Pickett, Adam Rogers, and more. During his free time, Jared is an avid rock climber and has completed many ascents in the US and abroad.

 

Gianna Duran

Publicity Coordinator & Tour Press
A New Jersey to Brooklyn transplant, Gianna has found both her personal and professional journey driven by the arts. A self-proclaimed “theater kid,” she discovered her passion for music, performance, and artistry at a very young age. She first got her foothold in the music industry as a publicity intern at Primary Wave in 2019, during her time as a Communications Studies Major at Pace University. With her love for all things PR – She has also grown her passion for supporting artists while interning at Glassnote Records, and broadened her connection to the live events industry on the American Express team at Momentum Worldwide. As someone who is constantly itching for creative projects and experiences, Gianna spends most of her free time exploring different mediums of art, attending concerts for her friends’ bands, and experimenting in the kitchen.

 

Hosh Gureli

Electronic Interpolation & Catalogue Remix
Hosh brings lifelong knowledge of the Dance/Electronica space to Primary Wave. Originally starting out as professional DJ, he segued his career into radio as music director of SF #1 Top 40 station KMEL. Hosh hosted various mixshows on the station. From there he went on to A&R for Clive Davis at Arista, J and then RCA records, executive producing #1 Dance Electronica hits for Whitney Houston, Notorious B.I.G., Annie Lennox, Christina Aguilera, Eurhythmics, Toni Braxton, Deborah Cox and many more. In addition Hosh was also on New York’s Hot 97 as a mixshow DJ. After leaving RCA, he created his own company Hoshg Music, which put together the classic “Leave The World Behind” Swedish House Mafia & Laidback Luke f/Deborah Cox and signed EDM superstar Audien as one of his first management clients. Hosh then partnered with Primary Wave bringing his vast knowledge and contacts to enhance the #1 Independent publishing company.

 

Lazaro Alvarado

Marketing Designer
Born and raised in Puebla, Mexico, Lazaro’s passion for art and design started at a very young age with a love for drawing and watching movies.  His passion for design led him to major in Graphic Design at Western Connecticut State University (Danbury, CT) where he graduated and was a Dean’s List Recipient. Lazaro enjoys simple elegant design that captures your attention and delivers a message in a beautiful way.  Prior to joining Primary Wave he has worked at several creative agencies designing brand packaging, style guides, logos and ad’s.  When not working, you can find him either playing/watching soccer or other outdoor activities.