Primary Wave has struck what it says is a “multi-million dollar” music rights deal with rock band Skillet.
The company says it has acquired their music publishing, as well as the record royalties across five of their albums released from 2003 through 2016.
Albums included in the deal are the band’s fifth studio album Collide, the 2006 platinum-selling album Comatose, the Top 5 and multi-platinum selling 2009 release Awake, their 2013 album Rise, and their 2016 gold selling, ninth studio album Unleashed.
Songs across those five releases include some of the band’s biggest hits over their nearly two-decade long career, such as the Whispers in the Dark, Awake and Alive, Feel Invincible, Monster, Hero, and The Resistance.
Primary Wave notes that their repertoire of songs have garnered more than 1 billion streams on Spotify alone. Their music has been featured by Marvel, NFL, NHL, MLB and has “become a staple” of the WWE, according to Primary Wave.
By 2019, Skillet had garnered a pair of Grammy Award nominations and sold over 17 million albums worldwide.
Primary Wave says that the terms of the deal also include access to its marketing team and publishing infrastructure, which includes digital strategy, licensing, synch opportunities, and film & TV production.
Of the partnership, John Cooper of Skillet said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with the Primary Wave team. What a wild, amazing ride it’s been with all of these songs! Grateful for the past and look forward to what’s ahead!”
“This has been an exciting deal for me to handle on a personal level because when I was in-house at Atlantic Records 20 years ago, I did the original deal to sign Skillet to Lava Records.”
Samantha Rhulen, Primary Wave Music
Samantha Rhulen, SVP, Business & Legal Affairs at Primary Wave Music, added: “This has been an exciting deal for me to handle on a personal level because when I was in-house at Atlantic Records 20 years ago, I did the original deal to sign Skillet to Lava Records.
“What the band and Zach have been able to accomplish since that time is truly impressive and everything has now come full circle to bring them into the Primary Wave family.”
The acquisition marks the latest in a series of recent deals for Primary Wave Music.
In April, the company struck another multi-million dollar deal with singer and songwriter Russ Ballard, which saw the publisher acquire a stake in the singer and songwriter’s music publishing catalog and writer’s share royalties, as well as his writer’s share of public performance.
That deal, followed the acquisition of a stake in in multiple Grammy and Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan’s music publishing and recorded music catalog earlier this month.
In March, Primary Wave acquired the artist royalties of Bob Burns, best known as the original drummer and founding member of iconic southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Prior to that, in February, the company announced an agreement with singer, songwriter, and producer Stevie Van Zandt.
Plus, last month, Primary Wave made a strategic investment in India’s Times Music in a deal worth $100 million.Music Business Worldwide