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Business News Deals Labels & Publishers
Primary Wave acquires Sun Records
By Andy Malt | Published on Friday 29 January 2021
Primary Wave Music has acquired legendary rock n roll label Sun Records, in a deal with Sun Entertainment Corporation – the company that bought the label from founder Sam Phillips in 1969.
Under the deal, Primary Wave will gain ownership of all Sun records, with the exception of those made by Elvis Presley, which are owned by Sony Music. Those include Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and Jerry Lewis’s ‘Great Balls Of Fire’.
“Sun is as iconic a record label as there is”, says Primary Wave founder Larry Mestel. “Its legacy needs to be nurtured”.
Speaking to the New York Times, Sun Entertainment Group owner Shelby Singleton said that, now aged 80, he wanted to sell Sun because there isn’t “a succession in the family” for him to pass it on to after he dies.
He also said that he wanted to do a deal before the current boom in catalogue acquisitions went into decline, saying: “It’s one of those bubbles that might eventually burst. So we thought, well, let’s get in before that happens”.
Singleton will continue to work as a consultant on the Sun Records catalogue for Primary Wave.