Primary Wave Opens Nashville Office

Geddes Bootwright, longtime manager for legendary Stax Records guitarist, producer and songwriter Steve Cropper, has joined Primary Wave to lead its Nashville division.

Primary Wave will announce its new Nashville office location and several additional signings in coming weeks.

Bootwright previously worked in real estate in Nashville’s Leiper’s Fork area where he worked with numerous musicians, before meeting Steve Cropper and later becoming Cropper’s manager.

Primary Wave first partnered with Cropper in 2016 for ownership of his music publishing catalog. “A lot of his songs were going to be reverting, and he didn’t want to be a publishing company,” Bootwright explains of first working with Primary Wave.

Founded in 2006 Primary Wave Music Publishing is one of the largest independent music companies in the U.S., along with its sister company Primary Wave Entertainment, which creates marketing and branding strategies through six in-house operating divisions, including Music Publishing, Talent Management, Recorded Music, Television/Film Development, Brand Marketing and Digital Marketing to cross promote its artists and brand relationships.

In 2014, Primary Wave expanded into the film and TV realm by acquiring talent management company Evolution, which produced more than 40 films, including Can’t Buy Me Love, The Sandlot, John Q and the entire SAW franchise, as well as executive produced the TV series “Two And A Half Men” and 100 episodes of “Anger Management.” In 2015 Primary Wave Entertainment merged with Intellectual Artists Management.

Primary Wave’s current roster includes artists and talent such as Cee Lo Green, Eric Benét, and more, with catalogs from Cropper, Smokey Robinson, Melissa Etheridge, Def Leppard, and more.

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Jessica Nicholson

Jessica Nicholson serves as the Managing Editor for MusicRow magazine. Her previous music journalism experience includes work with Country Weekly magazine and Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) magazine. She holds a BBA degree in Music Business and Marketing from Belmont University. She welcomes your feedback at jnicholson@musicrow.com.

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