Primary Wave Acquires Share of Sly and the Family Stone’s Royalty Income Stream
Primary Wave Music Publishing has acquired the entire catalog of groundbreaking funk band Sly & The Family Stone and its enigmatic frontman.
UPDATE: The Estate of Michael Jackson has issued a statement seeking to correct Primary Wave’s announcement, clarifying the company bought a passive writer royalty income stream and not any ownership in the songs in the Sly and the Family Stone catalog — which continues to be owned by Mijac Music.
“In light of an announcement by Primary Wave, we would like to clarify that Sly & The Family Stone’s classic song copyrights are owned by Mijac Music, which is part of the Estate of Michael Jackson, and are administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which handles all licensing requests,” said a spokesperson for the Estate of Michael Jackson in a statement.
Primary Wave Music Publishing has acquired the entire catalog of groundbreaking funk band Sly & The Family Stone and its enigmatic frontman. The deal includes all music assets of Even St. Productions, which covers music publishing and master royalty streams for all songs written by Stone (real name Sylvester Stewart), including “Everyday People,” “Dance to the Music” and “Family Affair.”
Given that Stone wrote every one of his band’s songs, that means Primary Wave has a treasure trove of stone cold classics on its hands, including “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” “I Want to Take You Higher,” “Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Again),” “Time for Livin’,” “Stand!” and “If You Want Me to Stay,” among others strewn across the legendary band’s ten albums. Stone has also released two solo albums, 1975’s High On You and 2011’s I’m Back! Family & Friends.
Financial details surrounding the acquisition were not released.
Sly and the Family Stone were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, and the singer-songwriter was later the recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.