Dan Wilson, Adele and Semisonic Songwriter, Sells His Entire Music Catalog

Closing time indeed. Genre-traversing hitmaker and Semisonic frontman Dan Wilson has signed over 100% of his catalog — around 350 songs — to music publishing and management company Primary Wave, the latter announced on Thursday. Only one week into 2021, this is the third major acquisition of songwriting rights this year, following that of Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham and Neil Young. And it comes just one month after Stevie Nicks’ similar deal with Primary Wave.

Wilson’s deal includes a total of three Adele songs — “One and Only,” “Don’t You Remember,” and the multi-platinum “Someone Like You” — all of which are on the star’s groundbreaking debut album 21, which he helped produce. It also houses six songs from The Chicks’ Taking the Long Way, one being “Not Ready to Make Nice, which won the Song of the Year Grammy in 2007. The cherry on top is the karaoke anthem that is Semisonic’s “Closing Time,” which spent 13 weeks at Number One on the modern rock chart in 1998.

Primary Wave confirmed to Rolling Stone that Wilson’s deal comprises his entire catalog. It also includes Wilson’s publishing rights to songs recorded by the likes of Taylor Swift, John Legend, Dierks Bentley, P!nk, Josh Groban and Chris Stapleton. Primary Wave did not share song titles in these instances, but Wilson’s only songs with Swift are “Treacherous” and “Come Back… Be Here” from 2012’s Red.

“The musical art that Dan has created as a songwriter is undeniable,” says Primary Wave president Justin Shukat in a release. “His work has been enjoyed by fans around the world through both the lens of his own band, Semisonic, as well as through the voices of the countless artists he’s collaborated with and written for. We are honored and thrilled to have him join Primary Wave.”