Primary Wave Secures $2.2 Billion for Fourth Music Investment Fund

Primary Wave Music has closed its Music IP Fund 4, with total commitments of $2.225 billion.

Why it matters:

• The independent music publisher claims it is the “largest dedicated closed-end music royalties fund raised to date in the industry.”

• The fund significantly exceeded its original target of $1.5 billion, as well as its hard cap of $2 billion.

• Backers span insurance companies, pension funds, endowments, and large family offices.

• It is the fourth consecutive oversubscribed Primary Wave Fund.

Expansion plans:

• As Music Business Worldwide points out, the fundraise follows a period of rapid expansion for Primary Wave, which is a strategic partner of Brookfield Asset Management.

• In January it made a strategic investment in music financing platform RUN.

• In March it announced an agreement to acquire Kobalt, a transaction that’s expected to close in Q3 2026; it also made a strategic investment in Vietnam’s POPS Music.

• $700 million from Fund 4 has already been invested across more than 65 single-artist catalogs, including The Notorious B.I.G., Village People, Neil Sedaka, Ric Ocasek, The Cars, Itzhak Perlman, Thin Lizzy, Gilberto Gill and more.

• It recently completed catalog and NIL acquisitions with the estates of Harry Chapin and Eartha Kitt.

What they said:

• Larry Mestel, CEO of Primary Wave Music: “This fundraise validates both the platform we have built at Primary Wave and our conviction that an active, aggressive hands-on approach to marketing music is what drives superior long-term returns for our investors and growth in value to our artists.”