According to Alternative Nation, Frances Bean Cobain, only daughter of late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, and Courtney Love, have hired Madonna and U2 manager Guy Oseary and Live Nation president Heather Parry to be the new managers of Kurt Cobain’s Estate, which include the responsibilities of handling the rights and merchandising of the late Nirvana singer’s name, likeness, artwork and licencing.
Oseary sat down with Billboard to provide a small insight as to the decision made by the artist’s close ones, “Heather and I are humbled to come on as co-managers to the Kurt Cobain to support Courtney Love and Frances Bean Cobain in protecting and celebrating a legacy that is important to us all.”
“Managing an estate is not the music business. It’s the pop-culture legacy business,” says Jeff Jampol, whose company Jam Inc. counts the estates of The Ramones, Joplin, The Doors and Otis Redding on its roster. “The music represents an entry point, but estate management is an entirely different field — the media we deal with are books, documentaries, retail, apparel, museum exhibits … It’s about reanimating the body of work and putting it forward into the conversation, then all revenue streams will follow.”
Lastly, Larry Mastel, who had handled Nirvana’s publishing through 2013, and is now part of Primary Wave, discussed the challenges that go into managing the estate of Kurt Cobain, who had been very anti-commercial when he was alive, stating “Good marketing minds adjust to the brands they have to work with.”
Perhaps fans will get lucky and the new managers will find some Cobain gems that have yet to be released, and re-introduce the late rock legend to the new generation who did not get the privilege to hear Cobain when he was still alive.
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