Primary Wave partners with Donna Summer estate for catalog and name, image & likeness rights

Donna Summer estate strikes deal with Primary Wave covering catalog and name, image & likeness rights

June 10, 2026 By Murray Stassen

Primary Wave Music has struck another deal with the estate of an iconic artist.

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This time, the Larry Mestel -led company has partnered with the estate of Donna Summer . According to a press release issued today (June 10), “Summer’s estate will work alongside Primary Wave on her award-winning music catalog and recordings, as well as share in her name, image, and likeness rights”.

Summer , who died in 2012, sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and is one of the best-selling artists of all time, according to Primary Wave .

The announcement added that the partnership will give the estate access to Primary Wave ‘s marketing team and publishing infrastructure, with the two sides working on new marketing, branding, digital, and sync opportunities, as well as film and television projects.

Her catalog spans 17 studio albums, including three that reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 .

She is the only artist to have had three consecutive double albums reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 – Live and More , Bad Girls and On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II – according to the publisher.

Of the nearly 90 singles Summer released, 32 charted on the Billboard Hot 100 , with 14 reaching the top 10 and four hitting No. 1, the company said.

Primary Wave says Summer was the first female artist to record four No. 1 songs in a 13-month span, including MacArthur Park and No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) , her duet with Barbra Streisand , as well as Hot Stuff and Bad Girls .

Hot Stuff , the lead single from Summer ‘s seventh studio album, Bad Girls , topped the Billboard Hot 100 and won her a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, according to Primary Wave.

The title track Bad Girls spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won an American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Single, the company said.

The partnership also covers other Summer recordings, including I Feel Love , She Works Hard for the Money , Last Dance , On the Radio and Love to Love You Baby .

Released in 1977, I Feel Love was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame , added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry, and sampled by Beyoncé on her 2022 track Summer Renaissance , according to Primary Wave.

The agreement is the latest in a run of catalog and name, image, and likeness deals for Primary Wave.

On June 1, the company partnered with Grammy-winning Norteño-Tejano group Intocable , in a deal covering the band’s catalog and name, image, and likeness.

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.

Last month it also struck a partnership with Pete Townshend , the co-founder of The Who, in a deal Variety reported to be worth more than $100 million .

Primary Wave also partnered with the estates of Harry Chapin and Eartha Kitt earlier this year, and its wider portfolio includes rights to music from Bob Marley , Prince , Whitney Houston and James Brown .

In April, Primary Wave Music closed its fourth flagship music fund at $2.225 billion in total commitments.

Summer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2025.

She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992. Music Business Worldwide

_Originally reported by [Music Business Worldwide](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/donna-summer-estate-strikes-deal-with-primary-wave-covering-catalog-and-name-image-likeness-rights/)._