PRIMARY WAVE LANDS WHITNEY HOUSTON

Primary Wave Music Publishing has acquired 50% of the Whitney Houston Estate and has started to discuss a musical, a Vegas-style spectacle and a hologram tour.

The New York Times reported that a new album of unused tracks is in the works as well.

After seven years of rejecting all deals related to Houston, executor Pat Houston, Whitney’s sister-in-law, struck the deal with Primary Wave to jump-start the Houston brand. “Now it’s about being strategic,” she told The Times.

Primary Wave’s deal gives it 50% of the singer’s royalties from music, film and merchandising, and gives them right to exploit her name and likeness. While Houston was chart-topper in the 1980s and 1990s, she never participated in the writing of her songs and has writing credits on very few songs.

Primary Wave Founder Larry Mestel told The Times, “Whitney was America’s sweetheart, and the idea now is to remind people that that is what her legacy is.” He has begun talks with Broadway producers.