Primary Wave Partners with Foreigner’s Mick Jones on Catalog, NIL, and Touring

Primary Wave Music has partnered with Foreigner’s founding guitarist Mick Jones on his iconic catalog, his career productions, and touring.

The deal:

• Primary Wave partners with Jones on his publishing and recording catalogs, as well as Foreigner’s name, image, and likeness, and their touring.

• Access to Primary Wave’s marketing team and publishing infrastructure will be provided, with plans for all teams to work closely with Foreigner on new marketing, branding, digital, and sync opportunities, as well as film and television projects.

Why it matters:

• Foreigner have sold more than 80 million albums worldwide.

• They landed 16 songs in the Top 30 on Billboard’s Hot 100, including “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” “Juke Box Hero,” “I Want to Know What Love Is,” and “Cold as Ice,” all of which are included in this deal.

Heightened activity:

• Primary Wave has been particularly active in the partnerships market.

• Earlier this week it partnered with Mike Edwards of Jesus Jones, and since May has done deals with Intocable, Aubrey “Po” Powell, Pete Townshend, and the Estate of Donna Summer.

• The publisher’s acquisition of Kobalt is reported to have closed this week.

What they said:

• Mick Jones: “Larry Mestel has created a unique company that focuses on heritage artists and develops them with incredible success. I am personally thrilled that he and his team of professionals will be working alongside my long-term friends and managers, Phil Carson and Stewart Young, to build upon the awareness of Foreigner and our songs. Over twenty years ago, I reformed the band with the finest musicians I could find. This year, we will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the 1977 New York founding with a live album and movie that features original members Lou Gramm and Al Greenwood joining Foreigner for a magnificent concert on Ellis Island. I can’t think of a better home for this and Foreigner’s future than Primary Wave.”