Brian Vander Ark performing live. Photo Credit: Justin Higuchi
The Verve Pipe frontman Brian Vander Ark has inked a catalog deal with Primary Wave, which has taken an interest in “The Freshmen” singer-songwriter’s publishing and recorded IP.
Primary Wave reached out with word of the song-rights tie-up today, indicating that the agreement extends to “all songs across The Verve Pipe’s repertoire of music.” Established in 1992, the Michigan-based group arrived on the scene with I’ve Suffered a Head Injury, followed the effort with Pop Smear in 1993, and dropped the Platinum-certified Villains via RCA in 1996.
The latter album features “Photograph” as well as the initially mentioned hit for which the band is best known; Vander Ark penned each of the songs (and many of those subsequently recorded by the act).
On this front, the Verve Pipe has since released six additional studio albums, including 2001’s Underneath and most recently Reconciled (2025). As noted, the Primary Wave pact encompasses all the projects save Reconciled – besides the group’s multiple children’s albums, live albums, holiday EP (2007’s A Homemade Holiday), and more.
Lastly, in terms of the partnership’s scope, Vander Ark’s solo studio and live albums, among them 2002’s Resurrection, 2005’s Angel, Put Your Face On, and the 2016 Jeff Daniels collaboration Simple Truths, are part of the union as well.
All told, then, Primary Wave has invested in north of 500 total recordings and compositions, and the Verve Pipe will leverage the company’s marketing and publishing infrastructure moving forward.
While the parties opted against commenting on the deal or shedding light on the financials thereof, the Verve Pipe is currently touring and has shows scheduled into December.
And in the bigger picture, the transaction represents the latest in a line of 2026 plays for Primary Wave, which has officially disclosed agreements involving the IP of Savage Garden’s Daniel Jones, “Addicted to Love” singer-songwriter Robert Palmer, and others during the past month alone.
Evidence suggests that further investments are on the horizon; April saw the publisher formally wrap its $2.2 billion fourth fund, touted as “the largest dedicated closed-end music royalties fund raised to date in the industry.”
Nor are different entities letting up on the dealmaking-volume front: Since September’s start, HarbourView’s invested in the IP of producer David Kershenbaum, MNRK Music’s scooped up the recordings of Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society, and Pophouse has acquired a 50% stake in Sia’s body of work for a cool $180 million.
