OUR HISTORY
Primary Wave Music Publishing was founded in January 2006 with the purchase of the Kurt Cobain music catalog. The founder's vision is to transform the way traditional music publishers and music marketing companies operate by acquiring culturally important iconic catalogs and contemporary music and provide our partner artists opportunities to enhance long term value while preserving the musical integrity of their artistry. This is achieved through the building of a transformative marketing machine that exposes our music to youth and popular culture with uses in advertising, video game, film, Television, brand marketing and strategic marketing opportunities.
EXECUTIVE TEAM
Lawrence Mestel, Partner and CEO
Lawrence Mestel brings 20 years of entertainment industry experience to Primary Wave Music Publishing. Primary Wave is a leader in applying an aggressive and creative approach to marketing its catalog of iconic and legendary artists and songwriters as well as providing a unique home to developing artists and songwriters through its history of marketing and branding their music. Primary Wave's extensive catalog includes the songs of Kurt Cobain, Steven Tyler, John Lennon, Def Leppard, Hall and Oates, Chicago, Maurice White, Steve Earle, Graham Parker, Holy Knight, Steven Curtis Chapman, Lamont Dozier, Blue October, The Airborne Toxic Event, Saving Abel, Anberlin, Shwayze, New Boyz, Taddy Porter among many others. In addition to music publishing, Primary Wave has a talent management division, a games division, and an intellectual property creation company which also includes records. Before forming Primary Wave Music, Mr. Mestel was Chief Operating Officer and General Manager of Virgin Records, where he was responsible for all marketing, sales and business-related aspects of the company. During his tenure, Mr. Mestel worked with iconic artists including The Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson, Jermaine Dupri and Lenny Kravitz. Prior to that, Mr. Mestel was Executive Vice President and general manager at Arista, managing sales, international and strategic marketing, A&R and marketing administration, finance and business affairs. While at Arista, he developed such artists as Avril Lavigne, Outkast, Usher, Pink, Carlos Santana, Dido among many others. Before that, Mr. Mestel was Chief Operating Officer for Island Entertainment Group, which included Island Records, Island Music Publishing and Island Pictures Mr. Mestel has co-founded numerous companies over the years and has sat on such boards as Launch Media, Island Entertainment Group, Priority Homecare and Music for Youth.
lmestel@primarywavemusic.com
Justin Shukat, Partner and GM
Justin Shukat is a founding partner and General Manager at Primary Wave Music Publishing. Justin oversees all areas of Primary Wave's synch exploitation, its licensing platform, www.thinkmusic.net and the company's website. He is responsible for new writer signings and content acquisitions and works closely with the current writer roster to facilitate recordings within the industry. Focusing on new marketing initiatives, Justin is currently developing a series of entertainment properties that leverage Primary Waves copyrights. His music career began at The Montreux Jazz Festival and was followed by various positions at Walter Yetnikoff's Velvel Records. Justin then moved on to senior marketing positions at both Arista and Epic Records. During that time Mr. Shukat worked with top-selling artists including Avril Lavigne, Carlos Santana, Toni Braxton, Run D.M.C, Judas Priest, Tori Amos and Outkast.
jshukat@primarywavemusic.com
Adam Lowenberg, Partner and CMO
Adam brings 17 years of music industry experience to Primary Wave. He is responsible for all marketing related activities within the organization. Most recently, Mr. Lowenberg was Sr. VP of Marketing for Island Def Jam. He also served as Sr. VP of Marketing at Virgin Records and VP of Marketing at Arista Records. Adam's career has been punctuated by the multi-platinum success of such global superstars as Avril Lavigne, Dido, Sarah McLachlan, Pink, Rihanna and Bon Jovi.
alowenberg@primarywavemusic.com
Ramon Villa, Partner and CFO
Ramon Villa manages the financial and operational functions for Primary Wave. His 14 years of experience within the entertainment field has immersed him across many platforms including music, publishing, video, film and distribution. Most recently he worked closely with Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records, as CFO and acting COO of Palm Entertainment Properties where he managed daily operations and financing activities. He was part of a team that built the catalog and brand value of Manga Entertainment, an anime content and copyright holder, from its U.S. inception through 2004 when he marketed and negotiated the sale of the company. Mr. Villa also gained extensive knowledge of sales and distribution as the CFO for Ryko Distribution, a leading independent music/video distributor.
rvilla@primarywavemusic.com
David Simone, Partner
David Simone has been President of Arista, Mercury and MCA Records in the UK before moving to the U.S. He was the President of UNI Records, President of Polygram Music Publishing and EVP of Geffen Records. Mr. Simone then joined his current partner Winston Simone and formed Deston Songs, which became a very successful independent publishing company. Mr. Simone has worked with the world's greatest artists and songwriters from Elton John to Jon Bon Jovi to Desmond Child to Bono.
dsimone@dswent.com
Winston Simone, Partner
Winston Simone has been in the music industry for over 30 years. As a manager, his clients have included Jan & Dean, Carly Simon, Joe Jackson, Curtis Stigers, Desmond Child, Michael Beinhorn, Michael Feinstein and Ricky Jay. Mr. Simone has put on shows with his clients at venues ranging from Broadway to the West End, from the Bottom Line to Wembley Stadium and from Brisbane to Paris. He has also produced television specials for his clients on the BBC, HBO, PBS and Cinemax. With his partner, David Simone, Winston founded Deston Songs which became a highly successful music publishing company.
wsimone@dswent.com
CREATIVE SYNCH & MARKETING TEAM
Ryan Barkan, Partner and Sr. Director, Advertising & Video Games
Ryan Barkan is responsible for creating innovative and integrated campaigns within the advertising and video game spaces. Most recently, Ryan worked with Pontiac on an integrated music campaign that featured the new artist Shwayze's hit single "Buzzin'," and starred the artist himself. He has also placed songs in games such as Guitar Hero, SingStar, Rock Band, American Idol: Karaoke Revolution, LIPS, and more. When not at work, Ryan spends his time checking out new bands and attending shows. He chronicles each show with his trusty camera and writes about them on his music blog, http://freshbread.blogs.com. His photos have been picked up by publications such as Billboard, Rolling Stone, the Village Voice and blogs like Brooklyn Vegan. Lastly, Ryan does a mean back spin...but not on request.
rbarkan@primarywavemusic.com
Michelle Belcher, Partner and Head of Film & TV
Ms. Belcher heads the Film & TV department for the company and facilitates new business development and marketing strategies as GM for the companies west coast operations. She has over 16 years experience having started in the world of soundtrack production with Morgan Creek, Columbia Records and Arista Records. She then moved on to BMG Music Publishing where she pitched, placed and closed deals for the likes of Coldplay, The Who and Christina Aguilera, among many others. She is a member of NARAS, FIND, the AIMP and the CCC and routinely speaks on industry panels and at UCLA and USC. She is also music supervising films; District 9 (Produced by Peter Jackson) and The Resident (a Hammer Film starring Hilary Swank).
mbelcher@primarywavemusic.com
Robin Joseph, Partner and Sr. Director, Film & Television
Robin Joseph brings 10 years of Music Licensing, Clearance and Supervision experience in the Film & Television world to her position today, where she is responsible for pitching and placement. She has worked with New Line Cinema, Artisan Pictures and on numerous productions as an independent Music Supervisor. Robin's music clearance credits include The Notebook, A History of Violence, Friday After Next and the box-office smash, Wedding Crashers. She was also responsible for music clearances in the promotional campaigns of films including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Austin Powers in Goldmember and Elf. As a Music Supervisor, her credits include Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and most recently, the hit NBC show, American Gladiators.
rjoseph@primarywavemusic.com
Marty Silverstone, Partner and Sr. Creative Director, Film & Television
Marty is part of the West Coast film & TV team, cultivating and securing creative synch opportunities for the company's songwriters and artists. Most recently, he headed the creative department of music publisher North Star Music Group, where he managed and promoted song catalogues featuring works by Collective Soul, Butch Walker and Bruce Hornsby. While at North Star, he helped found the company's Independent Artist / 1-Stop Music Licensing division by building a roster of compelling, emerging bands for whom he secured placements in major film/TV projects, as well as in the advertising world. Before transitioning into music publishing and artist development, Marty launched his career in music as part of the Queen's University Department of Psychology music research team in Kingston, Canada, leading studies on the psychology of pop music and music technology. A graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Marty is also an accomplished musician and producer, working with emerging artists and songwriters in his spare time. He is an instructor at Berklee College of Music's Los Angeles Program (Current Issues in the Music Industry), a member of NARAS, and regularly speaks on music industry panels.
msilverstone@primarywavemusic.com
Seth Faber, Partner and Director, Marketing/Artist Development
Prior to joining Primary Wave, Seth was Manager of Artist Development at the Island Def Jam Music Group, where he oversaw the promotional and commercial touring activity for a roster of platinum and developing acts including Bon Jovi, Sum 41, The Rocket Summer, and Jon McLaughlin. Previously, Seth worked at the RCA Music Group, under the tutelage of current A&M / Octone Records CEO James Diener. In this role, Seth coordinated both A&R and Marketing initiatives for a number of successful artists including Maroon 5, Flyleaf, and Gavin DeGraw. In 2009, Seth was named to Billboard Magazine's "30 Under 30" list of industry power players. He always finds the Afikoman.
sfaber@primarywavemusic.com
Tiffany Starr, Director of Creative
TStarr@primarywavemusic.com
Stephanie Oh, Office Manager
A recent graduate of Duke University, Stephanie got her first taste of the industry during her junior year semester “abroad” in 2007 as a Publicity intern for Columbia Records. Since then, she has been keen to return to music and is thrilled to be a part of Primary Wave’s team. Though she studied English, Theater Studies and Music at Duke, Stephanie likes to joke that she really “majored in a cappella” – fun fact: she and her college all-female group auditioned for Season 2 of NBC’s The Singoff.SOh@primarywavemusic.com
BRIGHTSHOP (DIGITAL MARKETING DIVISION)
Robert Dippold, General Manager
Rob began his career in marketing and rose to label manager at Ruffhouse Records, a pioneering record label with Sony Music which has sold over 100 million albums worldwide with artists Lauryn Hill, The Fugees, Cypress Hill, Wyclef Jean, Kris Kross and others. In 2003, Rob served at Warner Music Groups distribution arm, W.E.A. Corp. developing retail based marketing initiatives for WMG artists including T.I., Missy Elliot, Sean Paul and others. In 2005 Rob became Head of Marketing & General Manager of Trustkill Records, an independent industry-leading entertainment and lifestyle company partnered with Sony and Universal. Under the Trustkill brand, Rob was actively involved in digital marketing services, website properties, merchandising, music publishing, recorded music, artist management, mobile technology, as well as overseeing all company marketing initiatives. In 2005, Dippold developed and co-launched "MobileThreat" the first ever mobile content platform dedicated to the metal & punk music genres.
rdippold@primarywavemusic.com
Melissa Berlin, Digital Marketing Manager
Melissa started her career in music with the CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival as the Manager of Panel Programming. For three years with the CMJ Music Marathon, Melissa crafted panel discussions on music industry business and trends in addition to booking key speakers and moderators for the festival including top industry executives, artists and musicians. Melissa most recently comes from Independent Record Label, Management and Marketing company, Rock Ridge Music. In her role as Product Manager, Melissa specialized in digital marketing, digital publicity and new media for all Rock Ridge Music and Rock Ridge Marketing clients including Sister Hazel, Reel Big Fish, Ike Reilly, Tony Lucca and Joe Firstman.
mberlin@primarywavemusic.com
Anne Watkins, Director of Publicity
Anne Watkins has worked in the public relations entertainment industry for the last six years as a leading Account Executive at Lizzie Grubman Public Relations. She spearheaded PR campaigns for celebrity & music talent including Billy Baldwin, Plies, Victoria’s Secret model Kylie Bisutti, Chynna Phillips, Simon Rex, etc. as well as fashion and lifestyle brands such as Custo Barcelona, Beezag, SuperTrash and more. Anne graduated from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education & Human Development with a degree in Communication Studies. She spent her first two years in college at George Washington University, where she also played on the Women’s Tennis team (division 1). On a personal note, Anne grew up in Naples, Florida, but considers herself a New Yorker. She has a passion for creative writing and you’ll either find her at the dog park with her pup Charlie, running the Central Park loop or out at an industry event.
awatkins@primarywavemusic.com
Alex Stein,
Alex decided to focus his talents on the music publishing industry and is responsible for planning Primary Wave's annual Pre-Grammy party amongst various other events for the company's diverse roster of artists. He is also involved in the execution of many of Primary Wave's strategic marketing initiatives and the coordination of brand partnerships.
astein@primarywavemusic.com
BRAND SYNERGY GROUP (B.S.G.)
Jeff Straughn, CEO & Founder
Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Brand Synergy Group. Jeff Straughn has over twenty years of core marketing experience that includes working for global advertising firms, such as Saatchi & Saatchi and Interpublic Group’s Bozell, and ten years within sports marketing at global powerhouse Octagon. Jeff worked for Jay-Z and Mr. Antonio “LA” Reid while building a new strategic marketing department for Universal Music Group at Island Def Jam Recordings, and he has become a leader and trendsetter in how brands and artists work together. Now at Brand Synergy Group, with relationships that are direct and limitless, Jeff’s experience in brand development for Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Fall Out Boy and many others is now used to help corporate America leverage key assets to market their own brands.
jstraughn@brandsynergygroup.com
Laura Striese, Partner & Vice President of BSG
As Partner and Vice President of BSG, Laura Striese has been an integral part of the formation of the company and is responsible for all aspects of account management. Having worked alongside Jeff Straughn from the inception of the Strategic Marketing Department at Island Def Jam Recordings of Universal Music, Laura understands the importance of maintaining the integrity of both artists and brands in the creation of marketing relationships designed to bring optimum satisfaction to all involved. Her creative instincts have effectively contributed to a variety of successful marketing campaigns, running the gamut from artist record releases and promotions, major music industry events to the development of Nivea’s advertising campaign with Natasha Bedingfield and their most recent global campaign.
lstriese@brandsynergygroup.com
Brian Lancey, Partner, V.P. of Marketing
As Partner and Vice President of Marketing, Brian brings 10 years of consumer goods marketing experience to Brand Synergy Group from both the brand and agency sides of the business. Most recently Brian lead marketing efforts from multi-national corporations such as Mars Chocolate, Dr Pepper Snapple and Cadbury Schweppes.
blancey@brandsynergygroup.com
Jennifer Erb, Account Executive
"Account Executive for Brand Synergy Group. Jennifer is a recent Summa Cum Laude graduate of Northeastern University in Boston, graduating with a duel degree in marketing and finance. Jennifer has experience in marketing, public relations and e-commerce for a wide range of corporations including MFS Investment Management, The TJX Companies, Staples Inc. and L'Occitane.
jerb@brandsynergygroup.com
Tom Maffei
Tom Maffei started his career as a club promoter, while working in the mailroom at Sony Music. That led to a job with Diane Warren¹s RealSongs publishing company and several successful record promotion positions at labels Elektra, Geffen, and Arista Records. Rising to the executive rank of SVP at Priority/Capitol Records, during his long career Tom has worked closely with several superstar artists including Busta Rhymes, Miss Elliott, Outkast, P. Diddy, Usher, Pink, Santana and Snoop Dogg. In 2005 he created his own venture to manage songwriters and producers, a roster led by Brian Kennedy, who has produced hits for Rihanna, Jennifer Hudson, Chris Brown, Rascal Flatts, Justin Beiber, Jennifer Lopez and more.
tmaffei@primarywavemusic.com
Jerry Blair
Jerry Blair has been involved with music industry’s top recording labels and artists that have defined popular culture and radio airwaves for over 25 years. During the height of the 80’s, Jerry headed the west coast office of Chrysalis Records working with leading artists such as Huey Lewis, Pat Benetar, Billy Idol, Jethro Tull and Blondie. He went on to spend the next 11 years at Columbia Records Group which remained the dominant recording label in the music industry throughout the 90’s. While at Columbia Jerry served as the Executive Vice President for the label and personally oversaw the career development of music superstars Mariah Carey (the number one selling female artist of all time) The Fugees, Destiny’s Child, and Jessica Simpson. He additionally rejuvenated Aerosmith's career by pairing them up with Diane Warren. The result was "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing," Aerosmith’s first single to top the charts at #1. He orchestrated the promotional and marketing campaigns of legendary artists Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel which resulted in bringing some of the greatest grossing record sales and concert tours in their careers.
Jerry was the catylist of the Latin pop explosion by launching Ricky Martin's U.S. career. Starting with his show-stopping performance at the 1999 Grammys to "Livin La Vida Loca" skyrocketing to # 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, Jerry's foresight opened the door for numerous other Latin artists, including Shakira, Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez and Enrique Iglesias to crossover into the English market.
Jerry was later hired to serve as the Executive Vice President at by Arista Records. There he was instrumental in developing the careers of Usher, Outkast, Pink and Dido. Pink’s debut album, "Can't Take Me Home" produced thee massive radio hits which went top ten on the US driving domestic sales of over 2 million and over 5 million worldwide.
Jerry went on to re-launch the career of Mariah Carey, as her partner in Monarc Music. Jerry secured a worldwide distribution deal with Universal Music for Carey which resulted in enabling her to re-capture her place among the top selling pop charts and concert tours and maintain her current success. Continually respected industry wide as leading multi cultured music-promoter and lifestyle-marketer specialist, Jerry has created another superstar with Mika, who he signed. As a result of Jerry’s management, Mika received a Grammy nomination and in 2007 was the number one selling new artist selling more than 6 million units worldwide and continues to enjoy his consistent position at the top of the charts and as and multi-platinum artist around the world.
jblair@primarywavemusic.com
Jason Fields
Jason “JD” Fields has been in the music industry for over 20 years in talent buying, tour management and artist management. Jason has been fortunate enough to guide and developing the careers of many successful artists, writers and producers in multiple genres over the years to achieve well over 70 + million in sales thus far.
JFields@PrimaryWaveMusic.com
Jami Stigliano
Jami Stigliano comes to Primary Wave with 10 years of music industry experience in digital, grassroots and strategic marketing, as well as product management. For six years, she was a rising star at the JIVE Label Group where she launched innovative marketing campaigns and developed a strong digital presence for the entire JIVE roster including Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, P!nk, Chris Brown, Ciara, Three Days Grace, Jordin Sparks, OutKast and many more. Jami most recently served as a pop/rock product manager at JIVE, handling multi-platinum acts, as well as developing artists Allison Iraheta and Livvi Franc, among others. Prior to her stint at JIVE, she ran grassroots marketing campaigns for clients such as Arista, Columbia and Capitol Records, playing a fundamental role in the success of Avril Lavigne, Jimmy Eat World, and Michelle Branch. Some "fun facts" in her bio, Jami was named after the Bionic Woman, her first concert was New Kids on the Block, and she knows all the choreography to Single Ladies.
jstigliano@primarywavemusic.com
FINANCE & BUSINESS AFFAIRS
Matt Jones, Partner and Director of Copyrights & Royalties
Matt Jones is responsible for all copyright and royalty functions for Primary Wave. Most recently he worked at Palm Entertainment Properties as Royalties Manager, where he oversaw the implementation of rights management and royalty systems for both its music and film divisions. He has extensive knowledge in copyright matters and in mechanical and compilation licensing. Mr. Jones previously worked as Finance Director of Ultra Records, the country's leading independent electronic music label.
mjones@primarywavemusic.com
Joan A. Davis
CONSULTANTS
Gregg Hamerschlag, Partner
Gregg Hamerschlag is a founding partner and branding and licensing entrepreneur who launched Primary Wave Media, an intellectual property licensing and branding company, with Mr.Mestel. Primary Wave Media has signed long-term IP agreements with Time Warner, AT&T Wireless, Comcast, MediaCom and VoIP, Inc. while also introducing the concept of a daytime television audience for "The Rolling Stones" through a branded entertainment agreement with NBC Universal.
gregg@primarywave.com
Andrew Jameson
Andrew Jameson has produced a diverse range of projects from the worlds of scripted television, features, and unscripted television. Andrew recently served as President of the Maloof Entertainment Group, where he ran the day-today operations while creating strategic alliances for the company. In his tenure at Maloof, he developed and produced forty episodes of primetime television and a feature. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President at Steve Stabler’s Commotion Pictures, and held Business Affairs positions at Screen Actors Guild, Paramount Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox. He has lectured at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, and is a member of the Producers Guild of America as well as the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
andrew@irishdreamtime.com
Randy Miller, Partner
Randy Miller, one of the most respected marketing executives in the music industry, has held senior positions at Jive, Sire, MCA and RCA. Most recently, Mr. Miller was head of marketing for Virgin Records. Over his 25-year career, Mr. Miller has worked with many top-selling artists, including Britney Spears, R. Kelly, N' Sync, The Backstreet Boys, The Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson and Lenny Kravitz.
rjaymiller@gmail.com
Keith Estabrook (The Estabrook Group)
The Estabrook Group (EG) is a strategic communications and branding firm that provides Primary Wave Music Publishing with a wide range of services, including strategic marketing campaigns, brand imaging programs and media relations consulting. EG's client roster includes MSN (a division of Microsoft), NBA All-Star and Cleveland Cavalier LeBron James and Reveille, a television and film production and distribution company run by Ben Silverman.