PRIMARY WAVE MUSIC PUBLISHING PARTNERS WITH LEGENDARY GUITARIST, SONGWRITER AND PRODUCER STEVE CROPPER IN THE OWNERSHIP OF HIS MUSIC PUBLISHING CATALOGUE
This acquisition includes classic hits such as “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” and “Midnight Hour” and will enhance an already exclusive, robust library of chart-topping and timeless music owned by Primary Wave Music Publishing.
NEW YORK, NY (April 4, 2016) – Primary Wave Music Publishing, one of the largest independent music publishing and marketing companies in the United States announced today its partnership with legendary guitarist, songwriter, and producer Steve Cropper in the ownership of his Music Publishing Catalogue. Cropper is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas and Johnnie Taylor. Along with his influential work with Booker T & The MG's, which includes “Green Onions,” one of the most popular instrumental rock and soul songs to date, Cropper also co-wrote such timeless classics as: “In the Midnight Hour” with Wilson Pickett and “(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay” with Otis Redding, and “Knock on Wood” with Eddie Floyd. Primary Wave will aggressively market Steve Cropper’s catalog of music and secure sync placements for film, TV and commercials while working to expand Steve Cropper’s brand alongside Steve’s longtime manager Geddes Bootwright. The Steve Cropper song catalogue is the first acquisition in Primary Wave’s new music IP acquisition fund, which will announce its formation and it’s substantial resources in the very near future.
“I look forward to the next chapter in a long list of career challenges and successes.
It's exciting to be partnered with a like-minded, forward thinking, and aggressive team in the Primary Wave Family! Geddes and I look forward to fresh opportunities ahead, especially in the Nashville Market! This partnership will provide the necessary tools to be creative, using all the resources Primary Wave provides for past/current legends, and future icons to come…All in all, this will be a very productive ‘win-win’ all the way around,” adds Cropper.
With decades of success in an ever-changing landscape of music, Steve Cropper is in line for immortality. As a legendary guitarist, A & R man, engineer, songwriting partner of Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd and a dozen others as well as a producer for various musicians including Tower of Power, Rod Stewart, John Prine, José Feliciano, The Jeff Beck Group, Ringo Starr and John Lennon and founding member of both Booker T. and the MG’s and The Mar-Keys, and finally, one of the original members of the Blues Brothers Band, Steve Cropper is arguably one of the most influential musicians of our time. His band, Booker T. and the MG’s was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. In 1996, Cropper himself was named “the greatest living guitar player” by Britain's Mojo magazine and in 2003 Rolling Stone Magazine listed Cropper 39th in it’s list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. As a Songwriter Steve Cropper has been inducted into both the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall Of Fame. He was also inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame and the Missouri Hall Of Fame. Additionally he is the recipient of 3 Grammy Awards, The Bill Gates and Paul Allen Founders Lifetime Award, The Recording Academy Honors Belfast Award, and a Star on the Music City Walk of Fame. Primary Wave will partner with Mr. Cropper and Mr. Bootwright, with the latter representing Primary Wave in the Nashville community.
“We are honored to partner with Steve Cropper. Steve’s legendary music has been part of the soundtrack of people’s lives for decades. We are looking forward to working with Steve and Geddes to create new opportunities and innovative marketing ideas to share Steve’s music with future generations of music fans,” Adds Larry Mestel.
ABOUT PRIMARY WAVE:
Primary Wave Music Publishing is one of the largest independent music, companies in the United States, founded in 2006. The company along with its sister company Primary Wave Entertainment creates marketing and branding strategies through its six in-house operating divisions: Music Publishing, Talent Management, Recorded Music, Television/Film Development, Brand Marketing and Digital Marketing to cross promote its artists and brand relationships. Additionally, Primary Wave continues to broaden its reach in talent management by partnering with the best in both the music and entertainment industry to attract, develop and maintain a diverse talent roster. Expanding further into the film and TV realm in 2014, Primary Wave acquired the talent management company Evolution, which has a strong hand in the film/TV industry having produced over 40 films including Can’t Buy Me Love, The Sandlot, John Q and the entire SAW franchise, as well as executive produced the TV series Two And A Half Men and 100 episodes of Anger Management. In 2015 Primary Wave Entertainment merged with Intellectual Artists Management which roster consists of Oscar winning writer/director Jim Rash (Descendants), Mike Radford (II Postino) and Bobby Moresco (Crash) as well as, Golden Globe winner Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin), David Arquette, Gabrielle Union, AJ Cook, Nia Long, Willian Fichtner, Donald Faison, Manu Bennett, Cole Hauser, and Peter Facinelli. Primary Wave’s current roster includes artists and talent such as CeeLo Green, Melissa Etheridge, Cypress Hill, Fantasia, Plain White T’s, Candlebox, Dokken, Eric Benét, Natalie Imbruglia, The Go-Go’s, Erick Morillo, Richard Marx, Isac Elliot, Goodie Mob, Big Gipp, Kenny Lattimore producer/DJ Audien, plus writers/producers Ryan Hadlock, Jon Levine, Mag and Mitch Allan and Danja. Primary Wave markets their unique music repertoire and entertainment talent by using multi-media strategies that are developed and executed by the teamwork of their in-house branding company, Brand Synergy Group; digital marketing company, BrightShop; publicity and Television & Film production / development team, which all support the management and publishing roster as well as retain third party clients.
In September of 2013, the company strategically and opportunistically sold a large portion of its publishing assets for a significant profit. As part of that transaction, the company entered into a relationship that provides a number of competitive assets. Prior to this transaction, Primary Wave’s repertoire included an interest in the Beatles songs written by John Lennon, the catalogs of Kurt Cobain/Nirvana, Steven Tyler/Aerosmith, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Chicago, Maurice White (Earth, Wind & Fire), Steve Earle, Daniel Johnston, Marvin Hamlisch, The Matrix, Lamont Dozier and Steven Curtis Chapman, as well as developing artists such as Airborne Toxic Event, Albert Hammond Jr., John Forte, The Boxer Rebellion, New Boyz, Taddy Porter, Anberlin and writers such as Gregg Alexander, among others. The repertoire also included marketing and administration agreements with Jimmy Webb, Graham Parker, Matt Serletic, Evolution Entertainment/Twisted Pictures, Hammer Films, and many others. The company retained over 5,000 copyrights that it controls including Def Leppard, Melissa Etheridge, CeeLo Green, RoccStar, LP, Mac Davis, and Tummy Touch among other assets.