*NEW YORK, NY – Primary Wave Entertainment brings in music manager Toya Hankins (pictured) as a new management partner with a focus on continuing the growth of their Urban Talent Management division.
The multi-faceted music manager is the founder of Project Producers, LLC and has had over 20 years of success managing the career of platinum-selling recording artist and songwriter, KEM, whose current album, “Promise To Love,” was recently nominated for a 2015 Grammy Award and two NAACP Awards.
Additionally, Hankins’ new role at Primary Wave will also include taking on the day-to-day management of R&B veteran Eric Benet, who has been part of the PW management roster since 2010.
“I am absolutely thrilled about becoming partners with Primary Wave. Larry Mestel is a true visionary when it comes to music and entertainment, and having the opportunity, along with my team at Project Producers, to join forces with such a progressive team at Primary Wave, makes for a future that is beyond exciting,” explains Toya Hankins.
With over 23 years of experience managing the brands of recording artists, Toya Hankins is very well versed in several aspects of the music industry including brand imaging, tour marketing, radio promotions, event planning, as well as video and concert production. Hankins started her music career in artist development at Undercurrent Records, where she developed and promoted the at-the-time, unknown artist KEM, on his debut album, “Can’t Figure You Out.” Shortly after, Toya left Undercurrent Records to launch her own artist management and promotional company naming KEM as the Flagship artist. With Toya’s support and management, KEM released the platinum selling record, “ALBUM II” and two gold selling records, “Kemistry” & “Intimacy,” along with his holiday album, “What Christmas Means.” He has also headlined both national and international tours, and launched the “Kem Live @ Mack & Third” fundraising event, an annual benefit for the homeless & under-privileged in Detroit, MI. This free concert features nationally known talent and free health care services for over 55,000 attendees.
“I’d like to welcome Toya to the Primary Wave family,” states Larry Mestel, CEO of Primary Wave. “With her extensive background in talent management and strong leadership skills, I’m confident that Toya will be a great contribution to our team.”
ABOUT PRIMARY WAVE:
Primary Wave (PW) is one of the largest independent music & entertainment marketing, talent management and music publishing companies in the United States, founded in 2006. PW creates marketing and branding strategies for its diverse roster of Music, Film, TV & Literary talent, through their six in-house operating divisions: Talent & Literary Management, Television/Film Development, Music Publishing, Brand Marketing, Recorded Music, and Digital Marketing, to help cross promote our artists and brand relationships. Under the Primary Wave umbrella, there are two core businesses, Primary Wave Music Publishing and the talent management company, Primary Wave Entertainment, which has recently expanded their reach in the Film & TV industry by merging with top talent management company’s Evolution and Intellectual Artist Management. By uniting Primary Wave’s expertise in music, digital, and branding with Intellectual and Evolution’s strong hold on the film/TV industry, this new powerhouse talent management company will provide full access and opportunities for their roster across multiple platforms from music and film to TV and literary. Collectively, the new talent management roster includes: CeeLo Green, Melissa Etheridge, Cypress Hill, Eric Benét, Natalie Imbruglia, Deborah Cox, The Go-Go’s, Trevor Jackson, Ginuwine, Goodie Mob, Cris Cab, Big Gipp, producer/DJ Audien, on-air personality Nicole Ryan (Sirius; Vh1), plus music writers/producers Ryan Hadlock, Jon Levine, Mag and Mitch Allan; and the Film/TV roster includes, Jane Lynch, Golden Globe winner Gina Rodriguez, Mayim Bialik, David Arquette, Elle McPherson, Peter Facinelli, Gabrielle Union, AJ Cook, William Fichtner, Nia Long, Donald Faison, Manu Bennett, Cole Hauser, as well as Oscar winning screenwriters/directors Jim Rash (Descendants), Mike Radford (Il Postino) and Bobby Moresco (Crash), Oni Press, among others. Primary Wave Entertainment markets their unique music, Film/TV, and literary talent by using multi-media strategies that are developed and executed by the teamwork of their in-house branding company, Brand Synergy Group; digital marketing company, BrightShop; touring division; publicity and Television & Film production / development team, which all support the management and publishing roster as well as retain third party clients.
Primary Wave’s music publishing company, PWMP, entered into a partnership with BMG Rights in September 2013, and strategically sold a large portion of its publishing assets for a significant profit to BMG. Prior to this transaction, Primary Wave’s publishing repertoire included an interest in the Beatles songs written by John Lennon, the catalogs of Kurt Cobain/Nirvana, Steven Tyler/Aerosmith, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Chicago, Maurice White (Earth, Wind & Fire), Steve Earle, Daniel Johnston, Marvin Hamlisch, The Matrix, Lamont Dozier and Steven Curtis Chapman, as well as developing artists such as Airborne Toxic Event, Albert Hammond Jr., John Forte, The Boxer Rebellion, New Boyz, Taddy Porter, Anberlin and writers such as Gregg Alexander, among others. The repertoire also included marketing and administration agreements with Jimmy Webb, Graham Parker, Evolution Entertainment/Twisted Pictures, Hammer Films, and many others. Primary Wave Music Publishing retained over 5,000 copyrights that it still controls including, Def Leppard, RoccStar, LP, Mac Davis, Katrina and the Waves, Foy Vance, and Tummy Touch. The publishing company has continued to grow its roster and since the BMG partnership, they have signed many artists to the publishing roster including, John Oates, Kate Davis, Aalias (producer/Eminem), Bobby Brackins, Sigma, Will Anderson of Parachute, and more. www.PrimaryWave.com
source:
Anne Watkins | Primary Wave | [email protected]
Tony Ferguson | W & W Public Relations | [email protected]
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