Amy Ortner and Samantha Rhulen Land on Variety’s Music Legal Elite 2026 List

Congratulations to Primary Wave’s very own Amy Ortner and Samantha Rhulen for making Variety’s Music Legal Elite 2026 list!

Primary Wave’s proposed $7 billion acquisition of Kobalt was among the year’s most closely watched music-business deals, with Ortner helping guide the transaction. Her purview extended to Primary Wave’s strategic alliance with Pops Music in Southeast Asia and the acquisition of Gilberto Gil’s publishing and music catalogs. Rhulen closed some of the largest deals in Primary Wave’s history, including partnerships with Pete Townshend and INXS, while helping lead the company’s first acquisitions in regional Mexican music. She also worked on a forthcoming Def Leppard documentary and the restoration of James Brown’s South Carolina home as a visitor attraction. They have also helped to develop projects tied to Whitney Houston, Bob Marley and the Doors while advancing the forthcoming “Purple Rain” musical, based on Prince’s catalog.

Read more at Variety.com