VERMONT VOICES : LARRY MESTEL
Sherman : What inspired you to start Primary Wave ?
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Mestel : I think I had the right vision at the right time . Back in 2006 , the record business was still pretty good , but it was starting to decline . CD sales were falling , and digital distribution was just starting to come online . Overall , major record labels were not paying attention to their icons and legends . They were relegating them to their “ special markets ” divisions . I ’ d always been at frontline labels . The mantra was to break new talent , make hits , sell a lot of records , and make a lot of money . While the Nirvanas and Bob Marleys of the world were very important to the labels , it ’ s not where the frontline labels were spending their time . I saw this opportunity and void in the market to provide these icons and legends real marketing support , focus , and attention . At the same time , I had gotten very lucky and raised a lot of money to start Primary Wave . One of my first purchases was buying Kurt Cobain ’ s music publishing catalog . The whole premise was to be the “ home of the Legends ”. That ’ s our moniker . We wanted to find as much iconic talent as we could , buy into a partnership , partner with these artists , estates , and heirs . The idea was to give them what they weren ’ t getting from their major labels : Focused attention and brand building opportunities — not just focused on the catalog of music , but focused on the brand of the artists .
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1 . Larry Mestel in the conference room at Primary Wave Music standing in front of the company ’ s “ war board ”
Sherman : What was the strategic plan when you bought the Nirvana catalog , and how have you evolved your strategies over the years , now that you have many other legendary artists on your roster ?
2 . Larry Mestel and Cedella Marley in front of the One Hotel during Grammy week , January 2020 . Primary Wave took over the hotel renaming it the “ One Love Hotel ” for the week .
3 . L-R : Adam Lowenberg , Ramon Villa , Chris Blackwell , Justin Shukat , Larry Mestel at the One Hotel for one of Primary Wave ’ s events during Grammy week 2020 .
4 . Primary Wave Music staff at the company ’ s pre-Grammy party at the One Hotel 2020 .
5 . L-R : Justin Shukat , Larry Mestel , Adam Lowenberg at Primary Wave ’ s pre-Grammy party at Milk Studios in NY in 2018 .
6 . Larry Mestel , Smokey Robinson , and Smokey ’ s wife Frances Robinson . Pre Grammy party in 2018 at the London Hotel in Los Angeles .
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Mestel : Back in 2006 , we created this wooden heart-shaped box . We put all of Kurt Cobain ’ s catalog on CDs inside of the heart-shaped box that had a beautiful piece of flannel inside . If you lifted off the cover of the box , it played the lullaby version of “ Heart Shaped Box .” We did that , because it was an attention grabber . Our marketing team sent that out to 500 of the most important producers ,