For Mestel, buying up rights wholesale is a mistake. He says Primary Wave typically buys 50% or 60% of a catalogue because they want to collaborate on their plans with the actual artist (or their estate). “We want the artists as a partner,” he says. “So it’s easier for us to buy than, let’s say, somebody like Hipgnosis or Blackstone who have to overpay because they don’t have an infrastructure.”
