Primary Wave and Kobalt Chiefs Speak Publicly About Their Merger

The heads of Primary Wave and Kobalt have spoken publicly for the first time about the deal that brought their companies together, more than four months after it closed. Larry Mestel, Primary Wave's founder and chief executive, and Laurent Hubert, Kobalt's chief executive, discussed the deal on Billboard's music business podcast, On the Record.

Both companies are music publishers. A publisher looks after songs rather than recordings. It collects the money songwriters earn when a track is performed, streamed or licensed for film and advertising, and many publishers also own the rights to older catalogues of songs.

Billboard reported in February that Primary Wave was nearing a deal to acquire Kobalt. The acquisition closed in July. Kobalt now operates independently of Primary Wave, and the combined business was estimated to be worth $7 billion in assets.

The talks started in summer 2025, at a dinner organised by the investment bank Goldman Sachs. Jenny Kim, the bank's head of music, suggested Kobalt to Mestel as both a possible acquisition and a partner, according to the Billboard interview.

Kobalt brings its own services to the table. AMRA is a global digital rights collection service, which helps songwriters and rights holders gather royalties from around the world. Kosign is a digital-first publishing service for songwriters who are not ready to sign a traditional publishing deal, the kind in which a publisher takes a share of a writer's income in return for backing.

Primary Wave's roster, as described by Billboard, includes Whitney Houston, Stevie Nicks, Bob Marley and Prince. The company's website lists The Notorious B.I.G., Britney Spears, Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath among its artists. It also says it has announced partnerships with Mary J. Blige and with the estates of Robert Palmer and Wilson Pickett. An estate is the body that manages an artist's affairs after their death.

For songwriters, the practical question is simple: who collects their money, and how. Kobalt's own services, including AMRA and Kosign, continue to run under the Kobalt name while the company works independently of its new owner. Billboard's interview is the first time both chief executives have discussed the deal together on the record.