{"id":254333,"date":"2026-04-01T17:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T16:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=254333"},"modified":"2026-04-01T19:00:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T18:00:59","slug":"larry-mestel-how-it-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/larry-mestel-how-it-started\/","title":{"rendered":"Larry Mestel: How it started…"},"content":{"rendered":"

How it started… is a new MBW series that delves into the stories behind the music industry\u2019s most notable founder-led companies. Today, Larry Mestel\u2019s multi-billion-dollar Primary Wave is an established player. But once upon a time, it took a miracle phone call to launch it skyward. How it started… is supported by EVEN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Set amid the 5-star splendor of the Waldorf Astoria, Beverly Hills, Primary Wave\u2019s recent pre-Grammy party was one of the hottest gatherings in music\u2019s most glamorous week.<\/p>\n

John Mellencamp, Pete Townshend, and Def Leppard\u2019s Joe Elliott and Phil Collen performed; Trombone Shorty, CeeLo Green, and Grandmaster Flash kept the room bouncing late into the night.<\/p>\n

It was the kind of spectacle the biz has come to expect from Primary Wave \u2013 the \u2018Home Of Legends\u2019, which has deployed billions of dollars on catalogs of icons from Bob Marley to Whitney Houston, Prince to Stevie Nicks, James Brown to Ray Charles \u2013 and whose modern-day backers include Brookfield Asset Management and Creative Artists Agency (CAA).<\/p>\n

Larry Mestel founded Primary Wave in New York City 20 years ago, and the company has grown rapidly ever since. <\/span><\/p>\n

But, as Mestel tells MBW below, the firm\u2019s first few days were fraught with the kind of tension \u2013 and blessed by the kind of miracle \u2013 that Hollywood movies are made of\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

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It\u2019s December 2005; I\u2019d just left Virgin Records, and I had a plan to launch Primary Wave. Catalog deal discussions were underway, and I needed to source capital. I\u2019m introduced to a gentleman who decides, after a single, hour-long meeting, that he\u2019s going to invest $100 million in Primary Wave. He was energized; I was ecstatic. You know when things just seem too good, and too easy, to be true? This was that.<\/em><\/p>\n

After three months of negotiating the details, for one reason or another, it became apparent this person\u2019s offer wasn\u2019t real \u2013 and wasn\u2019t going to happen.<\/em><\/p>\n

By now, it\u2019s early March, 2006. The problem: I\u2019d thought this money was all wrapped up, so I\u2019d entered into two letters of intent [LOIs] \u2013 one to buy Kurt Cobain\u2019s music publishing, and one to buy a chunk of the MGM music publishing library from EMI. These were the bedrocks upon which Primary Wave would be built.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cI only had four days left. My ability to launch Primary Wave was on the line, as was my reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larry Mestel<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Both deals needed to be closed by the end of March. I had about two weeks to raise the money and close them. I\u2019m up against it, but all is not lost. I go to my friend Richard Fields, a Managing Director of Allen & Co., and explain that I have a fortnight to find the money, and that I need about $60 million.<\/em><\/p>\n

We agree that raising $60 million within two weeks, in a business that people don\u2019t yet understand, will be tough. But [Allen & Co.] send me to a number of potential investors to have the conversation. They set me up with seven or eight investor meetings, and I separately set a few up on my own, using my contacts book and pulling in favors. I had about 12 meetings in total over a week and a half.<\/em><\/p>\n

After almost every one of these meetings, people say, \u201cThis is interesting\u2026 but we need four or\u00a0 <\/span>five months, to do due diligence and negotiate a deal for an investment of this size.\u201d I didn\u2019t have that amount of time. By the time of the crucial meeting I\u2019m about to tell you about, I only had four days left. If I went past that deadline, the exclusivity of these deals would end. My ability to launch Primary Wave was on the line, as was my reputation.<\/em><\/p>\n

I get a phone call from a friend. He says, \u201cHey, I have this company I want you to meet. It\u2019s a major private equity firm who invest in media properties.\u201d I think great, this could be it: my last shot.<\/em><\/p>\n

I go to their office, sit down with their senior people. I pitch Primary Wave, and the future of music rights ownership. I quickly realize that the music business is alien to them \u2013 \u2018media\u2019 to them means the cable business.<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/i><\/a><\/a><\/figure>
L-R: Primary Wave\u2019s Adam Lowenberg, John Mellencamp, and Larry Mestel at PW\u2019s pre-Grammy party (and 20th anniversary celebration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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After about 20 minutes of presenting and answering their questions, I become frustrated and head for the door. Without realizing, I accidentally leave my investment deck, my marketing book for Primary Wave, on their table.<\/em><\/p>\n

At this point, it\u2019s been nearly two weeks of meetings, presentations, and term sheets \u2013 of false hope and letdowns. I walk out of their offices thinking, \u201cI\u2019m done.\u201d There\u2019s no way I\u2019m getting this money by Monday. I get home, and I remember saying to my wife: \u201cI am so screwed. Not only will I not get to launch this company, but no one in music will do business with me again.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Then the phone rings \u2013 literally two hours after I left the previous meeting. I\u2019ll never forget it, and I swear this is how it happened: \u201cThis is Joe Bencivenga from Plainfield Asset Management. We want to be in business with you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I reply: \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I\u2019m having the worst day; this can\u2019t be true.\u201d I hang up the telephone. Five minutes later, he calls back: \u201cDon\u2019t hang up! My name is Joe Bencivenga, Plainfield Asset Management. I\u2019m putting on my partner and the CIO [Chief Investment Officer] of the company, Max Holmes.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Max gets on the line, and repeats how keen they are to invest and do a deal. I ask him, How do you even know of Primary Wave? And he says: \u201cDid you take a meeting about two hours ago?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I said yes. \u201cWell, we were in the meeting after you. We saw your marketing books; you left them on the table. We\u2019re reading through them, and we really like what we see.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, we\u2019re at the coffee shop around the corner. And I\u2019m telling you: we want to do this deal.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cI still think this can\u2019t possibly be real; there\u2019s no way this is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larry Mestel<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I still think this can\u2019t possibly be real; there\u2019s no way this is happening. I explain the LOIs, the terms, the deadline, everything. It\u2019s Friday. Max says: \u201cWe\u2019re getting this done. Fax us your term sheet, and we\u2019ll go through it in our office in Greenwich, Connecticut. And on Monday, by the end of the day, we\u2019ll fund these investments.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The term sheet gets done, super fast \u2013 I think there was only one correction request before they signed it. And by the end of Monday, we\u2019d wired money to Courtney Love and to EMI. And that\u2019s how we started Primary Wave.<\/em><\/p>\n

Plainfield eventually went out of business following the financial crisis, and Primary Wave obviously recapitalized. But Joe and Max are great guys and were tremendous partners, true to their word. I owe them a great debt of gratitude.<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the funniest things is, two of the large institutional investors I met during that frenzied period \u2013 when I was trying to get the $60 million together \u2013 later found out about Plainfield investing. Both of them said to me, \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell us? Had we known someone else was about to invest, we\u2019d have closed our investment much faster!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The moral of the story? It\u2019s better to be lucky than good!<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/i><\/a><\/a><\/figure>Partner message: <\/strong>EVEN helps distributors and labels unlock new D2C revenue for their artists before releases hit DSPs. <\/em><\/b><\/span>Partner with EVEN to help your artists succeed through first-party data, direct fan relationships, and day-zero sales. Learn more about EVEN<\/a> here.<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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