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Nirvana songs not record breaking earners for Primary Wave
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 20 March 2009
Music publishing company Primary Wave, which bought a 50% stake in the Nirvana song catalogue for a reported $50 million in 2007, a deal which temporarily pushed the late Kurt Cobain to the top of the dead rock rich list, has reportedly only managed to bring in $2.3 million from the catalogue in the last two years.
Of course Primary Wave’s investment would have been based on more long term profit potential, though the publishing firm were upbeat about the licensing prospects of Cobain’s legendary songs when they did the deal with his widow Courtney Love, and experts say they will have been hoping to make considerably more from Nirvana by now. Some argue that while Nirvana songs are still among the most important and influential of the last twenty years, the anti-establishment nature of Cobain makes it difficult for those songs to be used in more profitable brand/advertising licensing deals.
It is thought Primary Wave have brought in over half a million by licensing Cobain’s songs for movie soundtracks and the track ‘Breed’ to the ‘Guitar Hero’ franchise.
