In October 2021, when Primary Wave first acquired a stake in Bing Crosby’s estate, the members of the new guard sat down together and came up with two objectives.
“One is: we want to make Bing the king of Christmas and holidays, every season, every year,” senior marketing manager Jack LeVine recalls to Billboard of the late pop icon, who delivered the definitive 20th century renditions of “White Christmas” and other seasonal staples. “And two is: just exciting, educating and engaging global and young audiences around Bing and his catalog.”
Nearly 7,000 miles away, the person who would turn out to be key to both goals was in the midst of an era-defining career explosion as part of South Korean boy band BTS, which brought renewed global attention to K-pop in 2021 with a breathtaking run of sunny dance singles – most prominently the 10-week Billboard Hot 100chart-topper “Butter” — dazzling …