10 Years After Whitney Houston’s Death, the Singer’s Estate Sees Quadruple Growth in Earnings
variety.comGeoff Mayfield Ten years ago today, the world lost Whitney Houston. She was 48 years old and on the precipice of a long-awaited comeback that was tragically cut short the night before the 2012 Grammy Awards.
But she’s far from forgotten, thanks to the work of Houston’s estate and its partners at Primary Wave Entertainment, who continue to unspool plans that will keep the superstar’s legacy top of mind for years to come.A renewed focus on Houston’s music began as soon as Primary Wave partnered with the estate in 2019, taking a 50% stake in the singer’s music assets in 2019.“It was time to rebuild Whitney’s business and Primary Wave, with its arsenal of industry professionals, were the right fit, a team packaged to elevate Whitney’s legacy to the next level,” says Pat Houston, the late artist’s sister-in-law and former manager who serves as an executor of her estate. “We have massively, over the course of our three-year partnership, improved the earnings of the estate,” adds Primary Wave founder and CEO Larry Mestel. “We’ve basically quadrupled the earnings stream of the estate through a lot of low-hanging fruit: renegotiation of partnerships, focusing on merchandise, digital strategy and social media enhancement — upping the game in general.”The first salvo in the company’s stewardship was a Kygo remix of Houston covering Steve Winwood hit “Higher Love.” The 2019 version reached No.
1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Play chart and No. 7 on Adult Contemporary radio, not only sparking streaming gains for her body of work, but spurring a series of branding and merchandise opportunities.Mestel sees even greater growth on the horizon, starting with the Dec.
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