President's Message - Universal Music Publishing

Lance Freed
RONDOR MUSIC
UMPG administers the Rondor Catalogue which contains more than
60,000 songs including hits written by the Beach Boys, the
Carpenters, two-time Grammy "Best Song" winner Will Jennings, Al
Green, Otis Redding, Tom Petty, Rod Temperton, Peter Frampton,
Isaac Hayes Paul Williams, Julie Gold Supertramp, Leon Russell,
Melissa Etheridge, Annie Roboff and Beth Neilsen Chapman,
Garbage, Everclear, Gerry Goffin, Shep Crawford, Mark Knopfler of
Dire Straits, Billy Preston, Grace Slick, Darby Slick, Helen Reddy,
Peter Allen, Bryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, Steven Van Zandt, and
Jurassic Five.
Some of the songs include: “California Girls,” “Good Vibrations,”
“Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “Let’s Stay Together,” “We’ve Only Just Begun,” “Rainy Days and
Mondays,” “American Girl,” “Breakdown,” “In the Midnight Hour,” “Higher Love,” “My Heart
Will Go On,” “The Air That I Breathe,” "R-E-S-P-E-C-T," "Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay,"
Michael Jackson's "Thriller" & "I Want To Rock With You,” Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven,”
"Theme From Shaft," "Soul Man", "From A Distance", "This Kiss," "You Are So Beautiful,"
"Somebody To Love," "I Am Woman" and many others.
RONDOR
CATALOGUE SPOTLIGHTS:
THE BEACH BOYS
Among the major catalogues that Rondor Music controls, The Beach Boys is one of the most
extraordinary. With songs like, “Help Me Rhonda,” “I Get Around,” and “Good Vibrations,”
the Beach Boys sound is emblematic of a timeless age of innocence in American music.
THE CARPENTERS
Rondor’s veteran writer of 31 years, Richard Carpenter, has compiled
an incredible body of work— the Carpenters catalogue, which
has retained a timeless status with its rich harmonies and pop sensibility.
A whole new generation is expressing an appreciation for
this music with covers of “Top of The World,” “Yesterday Once
More,” and “Merry Christmas Darling”. Writers Paul Williams and
Roger Nichols contributed such songs as “Rainy Days and
Mondays,” and “We’ve Only Just Begun,” which are also a part of
this rich catalogue.
THE EAST MEMPHIS MUSIC CATALOGUE
With writers and performers such as Otis Redding, Wilson
Pickett, Sam & Dave, Isaac Hayes, Booker T., Steve Cropper
and David Porter, the soul of Stax Records and Rondor Music's
East Memphis catalogue is an important part of American history.
Thriving during an era of civil unrest it showed the world that
music was a beautiful blend of color. It gave us a much grittier
and sexier sound than what was being released in Detroit, which
was much more polished. Songs like, "I'm A Soulman," "Midnight
Hour," "Green Onions," "Walk-in The Dog," and "Sittin' On The
Dock Of The Bay," are classic works that define our musical heritage.
Ron Moss, Senior Director of A&R for Rondor Music, said,
"We feel honored here at Rondor to be trusted guardians of this
rich history."
NEW SIGNINGS: SALIVA
Pictured above: Ron Moss &
East Memphis writer, Rufus
Thomas, who wrote "Walkin'
The Dog" and "Cause I Love
You."
Rondor Music recently signed the
band Saliva (Island/Def Jam), whose
new CD is due for release March 6,
2001. Pictured from left to right,
Dave Novotny (bass); Chris Dabaldo
(Guitar); Ron Moss, Senior Director
of A&R, Rondor Music; Josie
Sappington (Lead singer); Paul
Crosby (drums); and Wayne
Swinney (guitar).
Rondor Catalogue
UMPG’s Successful New
Administration and System
Model To Be Adopted for
Rondor Integration
When MCA and PolyGram merged to form
UMPG as we know it today, it was decided that
the company would be best served by utilizing
PolyGram’s fully integrated, centralized, automated
administrative and system model (formerly
“PIPS”) to provide the consistency and
completeness demanded to run the joint companies
systems efficiently
and effectively.
Theo Strikkers, Director
of Worldwide Admini-stration
, and Mike Donegan,
Director of Business
Information Systems, were
primarily responsible for
this critical transition and
managed it successfully.
By combining the MCA
data within their unique, centralized data system,
UMPG’s 800,000 copyrights are now
administered Internationally via “PIPS”. The
system includes a central administrative headquarters
(located in London) , three regional
hubs (Los Angeles, London and Hong Kong)
and 51 systems worldwide . Through this network,
UMPG manages and circulates approximately
800,000 copyrights and processes millions
of royalty transactions around the world.
With single points of data entry, UMPG’s system
makes the territory of acquisition responsible
for the completeness of their repertoire in all
territories. This centralized
model gives UMPG a commercial,
competitive edge.
“In a rapidly expanding
and evolving publishing
landscape, a scalable,
centralized system such as
UMPG’s is critical.” said
Donegan
Strikkers
Michael J Sammis, Chief
Financial Officer. “Mike
and Theo have developed
a global royalty administration methodology
which soundly differentiates our business
model from that of our competition. They are
motivated executives who’ve taken fundamental
backoffice administration to a new level,
ensuring maximized, global collections on all of
our works. The value proposition this creates
for UMPG, our customers and clients is
unequalled.”
Rondor International Integration
In an effort to further capitalize on the efficiencies
created by this system, the Rondor catalog
has already been converted and integrated.
Continued integration procedures will be implemented
throughout the first half of 2001 under
the supervision of Mike and Theo, who continue
to focus their efforts on global administration
synergies.