Martina McBride has sold a portion of her master royalties for her first 10 albums to Primary Wave Music, the company announced Thursday (March 10). The company also took ownership and distribution rights to McBride’s 2014 album Everlasting and her 2018 album It’s the Holiday Season and will provide the singer with creative services covering marketing, digital, licensing and branding. McBride will retain 20% of her artist royalties across all 12 albums included in the massive deal.
Primary Wave’s acquisition includes stakes in the Grammy nominee’s most enduring hits, including “Independence Day,” “This One’s for the Girls,” “A Broken Wing,” “Valentine” and others. The first 10 albums of her more than three-decade career were released under a recording deal with Sony, and the ownership of those masters remains with the company.
McBride’s longstanding contract with Sony ended following the release of 2009’s Shine, and since then, the singer has released subsequent records under labels including Big Machine Label Group, Broken Bow Records and her self-owned label Vinyl Recordings.
McBride was represented in the deal by attorney Jess L. Rosen of Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
The Kansas-born McBride first shot to prominence in the early ’90s when superstar Garth Brooks offered the then-unsigned singer the chance to open for him on tour, provided she could find a record deal. She soon inked a contract with Sony’s RCA Records and launched her career with her 1992 album The Time Has Come. Over time, McBride grew to favor a more contemporary country-pop sound than what she showcased in her debut, an evolution that resulted in some of her biggest career triumphs. This included her hit 1999 single “I Love You,” which spent 5 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and crossed over to reach No. 24 on the BillboardHot 100.
“It is a privilege to have the opportunity to work with Martina and the catalog of incredible songs she has built throughout her career,” says Dominic Pandiscia, chief strategy officer of Gaither Music Group & Primary Wave Business Development. “She has been a powerful voice in the Country genre with songs that that touch fans across all music genres. Martina, we welcome you to the Primary Wave family.”
