Primary Wave Music has announced a new partnership with veteran singer-songwriter Neil Finn, founding member of Crowded House, longtime member of Split Enz and solo artist. The multi-million-dollar deal sees the company acquiring Finn’s music publishing catalog and writer’s share of public performance for his work with Crowded House as well as his solo material.
Included in the deal are the many hits Finn wrote for Crowded House — “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” “Better Be Home Soon,” “Weather With You” and more —as well as his solo material and the songs he wrote as a member of Split Enz, including the 1980 hit “I Got You.”
Released in 1986, “Don’t Dream It’s Over” appeared on Crowded House’s eponymous debut album and became the band’s biggest hit, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts in several countries around the world. Also included is Neil’s share of “Weather With You,” written with his elder brother Tim (who founded Split Enz). from the band’s third studio album. In 2001, “Better Be Home Soon” the track was voted as one of the best New Zealand songs of the 20 th century by members of the country’s performing rights society, APRA. Of the song, Finn says, “it’s the song in a Crowded House set that people can sing from beginning to end very easily, in a group context, community singing and all that. That’s always been a pretty important thing for us.”
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“I look forward to seeing Primary Wave’s plan for the ongoing care of my songs. I am confident they see the body of my work as music that matters. This deal has been a good while in the making and feels right,” said Finn.
Primary Wave’s David Weitzman adds, “We are thrilled to welcome Neil Finn to Primary Wave. Not only is he a master songwriter, he is the songwriters’ favorite songwriter. We look forward to working closely with Neil and his great team at Shelter Management on the next stages of his storied career.”
Finn has been active in recent years as a solo artist, and joined Fleetwood Mac (with longtime Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell) in 2019 for the group’s final tour.
Crowded House, which now includes Finn’s sons Elroy and Liam, will release its eighth album, “Gravity Stairs,” next month.
