Primary Wave Music has partnered with the estate of Wilson Pickett on a stake in the late soul singer’s publishing catalog and a share of his name, image, and likeness rights. The company announced the agreement on September 2, 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The estate gains access to Primary Wave’s marketing and publishing teams for branding, digital, sync, and screen projects. Pickett’s brother Max Pickett said the deal is meant to keep the “Wicked Pickett” catalog active for new audiences, not just archive it.
Pickett, who died in 2006 at 64, co-wrote “In the Midnight Hour” with Steve Cropper and scored major R&B hits with “Mustang Sally” and “Land of 1000 Dances.” Primary Wave already owns Cropper’s publishing, which puts the company on both sides of that Midnight Hour writer credit. The five-time Grammy nominee entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2024.
The Pickett pact follows Primary Wave’s recent moves with the Donna Summer estate and Foreigner co-founder Mick Jones, and comes after the firm closed its Kobalt acquisition and a $2.225 billion fourth music fund. Catalog and NIL packages remain the currency of the independent publishing boom.
Image: thematic stock photo (Pexels), royalty-free. Story facts verified from Music Business Worldwide reporting on the Primary Wave–Pickett estate partnership.