Primary Wave Music has partnered with Mike Edwards, the singer and songwriter of the twice Grammy-nominated band Jesus Jones.
The deal, announced on Monday (July 6), covers Edwards‘ catalog, which spans the band’s albums from its 1989 debut, Liquidizer, to its 2001 release, London.
That catalog includes Right Here, Right Now, which reached No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991.
Other songs covered by the deal with Primary Wave include Real Real Real, Info Freako, International Bright Young Thing and The Devil You Know.
The partnership also gives Edwards access to Primary Wave‘s marketing team and publishing infrastructure, including digital strategy, licensing, sync opportunities, and film and TV production.
Right Here, Right Now was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1992 for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
Doubt, the band’s 1991 album, was also nominated that year, for Best Alternative Music Album.
Doubt has sold more than 2 million copies globally, according to Primary Wave.
Right Here, Right Now was later used by Hillary Clinton during her 2008 US presidential campaign.
Commenting on the partnership, Mike Edwards said: “I’m both really thrilled and excited to be in partnership with Primary Wave. Thrilled because to my astonishment and pleasure, I’m now sharing space on a roster of enormous talents, true legends of the music industry.”
“Excited because it feels very much as though with Primary Wave, we are at the start of a great working relationship, a relationship that’s using songs from my past but is very much about the future.”
“Thrilled because to my astonishment and pleasure, I’m now sharing space on a roster of enormous talents, true legends of the music industry.”
Mike Edwards
Primary Wave‘s Executive VP for UK & Europe, Justin Dowling, added: “We’re honored to partner with Mike Edwards on his catalog of songs.”
“While Jesus Jones may humbly brand themselves as the ‘purveyors of fine indie-dance anthems since 1989’, under the hood it’s a little more than that.”
“Mike proved that new fertile ground could be broken in music by marrying up the art of sampling with rock guitars and bringing all that to a global stage and a global audience.”
“While Jesus Jones may humbly brand themselves as the ‘purveyors of fine indie-dance anthems since 1989’, under the hood it’s a little more than that.”
justin Dowling, primary Wave
“Mike is outstanding as both a songwriter and a performer and if that wasn’t enough, is in possession of the most unique thing of all, a singing voice so inimitable that it can only be recognized as that of Mike Edwards.”
The Edwards partnership is the latest in a run of catalog deals struck by Primary Wave.
In June, Primary Wave struck deals with the estate of Donna Summer and Grammy-winning Norteño-Tejano group Intocable, both covering catalog rights as well as name, image, and likeness rights.
In May, Primary Wave acquired the interests of Aubrey “Po” Powell, co-founder of British design studio Hipgnosis, in the studio’s album-art collection.
Earlier that month, the company partnered with Pete Townshend, the co-founder and principal songwriter of British rock band The Who.
Those deals come amid a period of expansion for Primary Wave, which in April closed its fourth flagship music fund at $2.225 billion.
In March, Primary Wave announced a definitive agreement to acquire Kobalt from Francisco Partners, in a transaction that includes investment from Brookfield Asset Management and is expected to close in Q3 2026.
Primary Wave was founded in 2006 by Larry Mestel and describes itself as “the leading independent publisher of iconic and legendary music in the world”.
Its acquisition activity has been powered by a $2 billion partnership with Brookfield Asset Management struck in 2022.
The company says the songs it represents include over 1,000 Top 10 singles and more than 400 No.1 hits, spanning artists such as Bob Marley, Prince, and Whitney Houston.Music Business Worldwide