Zomba Group
Zomba Label Group | |
---|---|
Parent company |
|
Founded | 1975[1][2] (as Zomba Corporation) London, England |
Founder | Clive Calder, Ralph Simon |
Status | Big part of labels dissolved, only active for Christian focused music releases. |
Distributor(s) | Epic Records RCA Records Provident Label Group Legacy Recordings |
Genre | Various |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Location | London, England New York City, New York, U.S. Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
Official website | zombalabelgroup.com (archived) |
The Zomba Group of Companies (sometimes referred to as Zomba Music Group or just Zomba Group)[3] was a music group and division owned by and operated under Sony Music Entertainment. The division was renamed to Jive Label Group in 2009[4] and was placed under the RCA/Jive Label Group umbrella. In 2011, the RCA/Jive Label Group was split in half. Multiple Jive Label Group artists were moved to Epic Records while others stayed with Jive as it moved under the RCA Music Group. In October 2011 Jive Records was shut down and their artists were moved to RCA Records.[5]
Founded independently in the mid-seventies by
The group is perhaps best known for its role in developing some of the most popular forms of music, such as
Today, the only Zomba labels still in operation are So So Def Recordings, Music for Nations, Silvertone and Christian focused music labels. The remaining labels were absorbed into RCA Records and Epic Records, as well as Legacy Recordings, Sony's division for catalogue reissues.
The company still owns the "Zomba" and "Jive" trademarks as of 2018 through a Swiss company called Zomba Corporation.
History
South African Roots: Calder, Simon and Lange
In late 1971,
Early companies formed by Calder and Simon were Sagittarius Management and Clive Calder Productions (CCP).
Zomba in London
The trio of Calder, Simon and Lange decided in 1974 that they had to get out of South Africa, with Simon saying, "We were politically very much opposed to the old apartheid regime". The trio pooled together what little money they had and moved to London.[7] Having landed right in the middle of the British punk rock movement, they opted to create a publishing company; Zomba Corporation was officially registered in Switzerland in 1975, operating out of Calder's bedroom space in London.[1][2] The name "Zomba" referred to the capital of African country Malawi (Lilongwe superseded Zomba as Malawi's capital in 1974).[8]
Next, Calder and Simon began looking for songwriters. The first was
In early 1978, Zomba opened offices in New York City and began looking for more artists and songwriters.[10] Clive Davis was one of the first to contact the group, who used his recently formed Arista Records to distribute Zomba artists. The first major signing was Billy Ocean.[7] Over the next few years, Zomba's songwriters achieved success and the publishing profits kicked in, marking the beginning of the company's first major expansion into record labels. Though Davis wanted Calder to head Arista's West Coast A&R operations, Calder had different plans altogether, and instead presented Jive Records to Davis.
Jive: taking a chance with rap
Arista had been having trouble pushing rock acts in the US, and Clive Davis had hoped that with Zomba's Mutt Lange connection, Jive would fill that role. However, Calder had other ideas. In 1981, Jive began operations by releasing British dance and pop music such as
After Whodini, Jive began signing other rap artists into the later half of the decade.
Jive continued to support rap artists into the nineties, with the aforementioned groups and the signing of new acts. KRS-One, the primary force behind Boogie Down Productions, released a string of solo albums with Jive beginning with Return of the Boom Bap in 1993.[13] In 1991, Jive signed R&B artist R. Kelly who, along with his backing band Public Announcement, released their debut album Born into the 90's in early 1992. R. Kelly began his solo career with 12 Play in 1993, and would go on to spend eighteen years with Jive in a partnership that produced ten studio albums.[14][15] A Tribe Called Quest was signed by Jive in 1989 following a successful independently released single "Description of a Fool." The group's debut album People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm was released by Jive in 1990 and framed the group as one of the most intelligent rap groups.[16] Many other rap and R&B artists were signed throughout the eighties and nineties before the teen-pop explosion in the later half of the decade.
Expansion
By 1990, Zomba was worth $225 million with over fifty companies. Contrary to many other record businesses at the time, Zomba was known for its frugality. "The Jive offices were crummy, cardboard desks. They just really did everything on the cheap", said attorney Gary Stiffelman. The company began to attract more major label attention when EMI attempted to buy the company, but was ultimately turned down.[7][8] This period also saw Ralph Simon leaving Zomba at the start of the decade. Through an unspecified "ethical disagreement",[17] Calder and Simon ended their relationship of over two decades.[7] Calder bought out Simon's half of the company and subsequently gained full control of the company.[1] In late 1991, BMG furthered its relationship with Zomba by purchasing a 25% stake in their music publishing business, allowing them to sub-publish Zomba compositions in foreign markets.[1] BMG continued their involvement with a 20% purchase of Zomba's records division in 1996.[18]
Building on the successes of the Jive label, Zomba began expanding its reach by purchasing and creating new labels, and by creating new divisions that helped expose more people to Zomba artists and services. In 1988,
In 1993, Zomba created Zomba! Music Services in order to facilitate publishing rights for those in the film and television industry.[8] The division would act as a channel through which clients could acquire products and services from any company within Zomba. Songs published by Zomba Music Publishers Ltd., or released on any of the Zomba labels, or specialty recordings owned by the division itself, could be sourced for inclusion on film soundtracks, television shows or commercials.[19][20] This move generated profits for Zomba by providing access to the company's vast publishing catalogue.
The year 1994 saw the first of many of Zomba's successful forays into the Christian music scene with the purchase of the Brentwood Music Group.[1][21] Brentwood was an established company consisting of an extensive Christian distribution network, several labels, and one of the largest music publishing divisions in printed choral music in the U.S.[22] Expanding on the Brentwood purchase, Zomba purchased the Christian label group Reunion Records from BMG in October 1996.[1][23] In 1997, Zomba purchased yet another Christian music affiliated company, the Benson Music Group, from Music Entertainment Group.[24][25] An important asset of the Brentwood acquisition was the publishing arm, founded in 1902, that included 46,000 copyrights from artists such as Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Willie Nelson.
In reaction to the surge in Christian-oriented labels acquired over the past few years, Zomba created the Provident Music Group in June 1997. The Nashville-based group was led by Jim Van Hook and was essentially a continuation of the Brentwood group and an amalgamation of the other Christian-oriented labels. The group consisted of the Benson, Brentwood and Reunion groups, as well as the Brentwood/Benson Publishing Group and the newly formed Provident Music Distribution arms.[26] This new group allowed the three main sublabels to unify their resources and distribution while still retaining their separate personalities in the market.
In 1996, Zomba acquired the Windsong Holdings, which gave them control of many new companies including
With the successful integration of Rough Trade into its operations in the GSA region and Benelux and to expand on recent teen pop successes, Zomba created a London-based international label group, Zomba International Records Group.[28] Directed by Stuart Watson, the new organization allowed each new local territory to freely sign and develop acts on its own.[29] If those artists could create a strong regional profile, it would be possible to "export" them to Zomba International for broader exposure.[30][31] Simultaneously, it allowed Zomba artists increased international exposure. The expansion was largely unhampered, with the exception of legal issues regarding the Australian branch. Australian record company Festival Mushroom Group lost at least a dozen employees to Zomba in early 1999 and placed an injunction that stopped Zomba from soliciting Mushroom employees; they also accused former employee Scott Murphy of trying to bolster Zomba's presence while still working for Mushroom.[32] However, the issue was resolved fairly amicably and ended with a distribution deal with BFM Distribution (a joint venture of Festival Mushroom Group and BMG).[33]
As the record industry began evolving due to the increasingly widespread use of the Internet, and the growing ease with which artists could record music at home, Zomba made moves that illustrated their desire to adapt with the times. In 2000, they joined the growing list of record companies that made some music available via digital download with online distribution company Amplified Entertainment.
Teen Pop explosion
Around 1993, Clive Calder began his uneasy relationship with
While Pearlman and Watson were breaking the Backstreet Boys overseas, Jive A&R man Steve Lunt was busy in the US seeking a female star, and was greeted with 15-year-old Britney Spears.[37] Initially horrified by Spears' karaoke demo of a Toni Braxton song sung in the wrong register, Lunt was intrigued by a brief moment at the end where he heard the "kind of soul she had."[7] As was the standard at Zomba, Lunt took Spears to in-house songwriter and producer Eric Foster White in the company's publishing division, and the two recorded "You Got It All." Like the Backstreet Boys, Spears was sent to Cheiron Studios in Stockholm to record with producer Max Martin. Within four months of debuting on radio in September 1998,[38] Spears' song "...Baby One More Time" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1999, a position it would hold for four consecutive weeks.[39]
In 1999, Zomba was involved in a "boy band controversy" when trying to sign another group that Pearlman had put together himself,
The lawsuit, which Rolling Stone called "the music industry's nastiest legal skirmishes in years," was problematic for Zomba for two main reasons.[45] First, having heard that NSYNC was now signed to Jive, the Backstreet Boys did not want to be a part of the label anymore. Second, the lawsuit temporarily strained Zomba's relationship with BMG, whose distribution deal with Zomba was coming to a close. Jive initially announced they would not renew their deal with BMG, but reconsidered following the lawsuit with BMG and Trans Continental. The distribution deal may have factored into the lawsuit's outcome, since distributed Zomba product accounted for 5.5% of BMG's US market share, an arrangement BMG Entertainment CEO Strauss Zelnick was under pressure not to lose.[44][7] Jive also signed a new deal with the Backstreet Boys that gave the band a 20% royalty rate.[46]
From BMG to Sony, and recent activities
BMG had owned 25% of Zomba's publishing business since 1991 and 20% of its recording business since 1996.[47][48] As part of BMG's 1996 agreement with Zomba, the music giant was required to follow through on a put option and buy the remaining shares it did not already own before 31 December 2002.[49][50] In June 2002, Clive Calder decided to exercise the put option.[51] Effective 26 November 2002, BMG Entertainment concluded its deal with Zomba for the purchase of the company's entire assets.[52] While Calder had originally requested $3.2 billion for his shares in Zomba, valuation of the label's assets varied from $1.6 billion to $2.4 billion.[50] Following the purchase negotiations, a price of $2.74 billion was agreed upon, the biggest purchase of an independent label at the time. Zomba's sale had been the latest in a series of independent label sellouts including Island Records and Geffen Records (both sold to Universal for $300 million and $550 million, respectively), and Virgin (sold for $950 million to EMI). The $2.74 billion paid for the Zomba Group was more than was paid for the purchase of many others labels including Island, Geffen, Virgin, A&M, Motown, Chrysalis, and Def Jam, combined.
Initially, BMG took its time in integrating Zomba with the rest of its labels, hoping that the former independent would lift BMG’s worldwide ranking from fifth to fourth-largest record company.[53] Calder resigned his position as CEO immediately after the purchase, but stayed on at Zomba in an advisory position for about another year.[47] In mid-2003, BMG began its worldwide integration of Zomba, cutting hundreds of jobs through the consolidation of regional operations.[54] While many of the key managers stayed, and the large offices in the US and the UK remained operational, all of the other regional offices were assimilated into BMG. In addition to the regional mergers, the Zomba and BMG publishing companies were integrated. The US and UK offices remained as stand-alone units, but many of the back-office functions were consolidated into BMG. The Provident Music Group, Zomba's foray into the Christian music market, was reassigned as a RCA sub-label.[54] By 2004, the record labels were reorganized under the Zomba Label Group.[55]
In 2004,
On 2 November 2004 the American Federation of Musicians announced that it had entered into an agreement with Zomba. Effective 1 January 2005, the labor union covered all artists on any Zomba subsidiary labels (and any future labels) under the Federation's Sound Recording Labor Agreement.[57] The deal ensured that all artists under the Zomba aegis would receive, for the first time, a full range of benefits and protections, among which are scale payments, industry standard working conditions and pension contributions.
In 2005, Zomba formed Zomba Gospel under the Zomba Label Group in an effort to collate its recently expanding gospel labels. Zomba's interest in gospel began in the form of a distribution deal with GospoCentric Records (and sublabel B'Rite Music) in October 2001, which Zomba later purchased in 2004.[58][59] Verity Records president Max Siegel was charged with heading the new entity which included Zomba labels Verity and GospoCentric, as well as four artist owned imprints: Quiet Water Entertainment (Donald Lawrence), Fo Yo Soul Entertainment (Kirk Franklin), New Life Records (John P. Kee) and F. Hammond Music (Fred Hammond). Distribution was handled by Provident-Integrity for the Christian Bookselling Association, and through Sony Distribution (formerly Sony BMG) for the mainstream market.[60]
Zomba's publishing division also continued its expansion. In 2006, Zomba Music Publishing purchased the catalogue of the UK-based Strongsongs Music Publishing from the Telstar Music Group.[61] This large acquisition expanded Zomba's rights to many international hitmakers including Metallica, Craig David and Dannii Minogue, among others. Beginning with the appointment of David Mantel in 2005 as the head of Zomba Music Publishing US operations, the company began to take a different signing approach that focused on unknown or unsigned artists. Mantel's first signing was T-Pain, whose two singles "I'm Sprung" and "I'm ‘n Luv (Wit a Stripper)" hit number 8 and 5 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100.[62] This type of signing was also used in the records division where artists or producers were given their own imprint. In October 2008, Zomba made an all-inclusive multiyear joint-venture deal with Hitz Committee Entertainment, an imprint that had been in the making for almost 5 years from Jive VP of A&R Mickey "MeMpHiTz" Wright.[63] Beginning in 2008, Hitz Committee consisted of a record label under Sony, music production, music publishing, artist and producer management, and TV and film projects.
Company structure
The structure of the Zomba Group during the independent era (1975 to 2002) is difficult to precisely pinpoint due to the private nature of Clive Calder's managing style.
Records division
Zomba labels were operated under the Zomba Label Group from approximately 2004 until 2009 (now part of the RCA/Jive Label Group). The Provident Label Group contained other labels after its purchase in 1997, but is no longer a part of Zomba. The Windsong purchase gave Zomba control of labels through a variety of company structures including Pinnacle and Rough Trade, however, some of these labels are no longer a part of Zomba. These three groups are organized separately below, followed by a list of inactive or formerly owned labels from various periods.
Zomba's first, and flagship label is Jive, formed in 1981. Since then, Zomba has acquired and created a variety of labels and label groups that either operate independently from, or under Jive. During its independent period, the various record labels under Zomba all reported directly to a records division. There was no formal public face for the labels until BMG formed Zomba Label Group in 2004. Though the term "Zomba label group" or "Zomba Group records division"[18][68] had been used previously to refer to the various labels owned by the company, it wasn't until then that an actual company was created to control the labels specifically.[55][69] The Zomba Recording Corporation continues to coordinate production activities on many Zomba subsidiary releases.[citation needed]
From 1981 until 1987, Zomba labels were distributed by Arista. After 1987, Zomba signed a deal with RCA for distribution that lasted until 1991. The end of the deal coincided with BMG purchasing a large share of RCA, and a deal with BMG was signed for distribution. BMG remained the North American distributor for Zomba until after the purchase in 2002; however, other regions had various other distributors over time.[66] EMI became an important distributor for Zomba in Europe via Virgin Records, but distribution details are listed below in the Regional Branches section. Zomba only controls one small vinyl pressing plant; therefore, most of their manufacturing has been outsourced to companies such as Sonopress (BMG affiliated), Sony, and Technicolor.[66]
In 1996, Zomba acquired 75% of UK distributor and label group Pinnacle, 80% of the Rough Trade label and distribution in the Germany/Switzerland/Austria (GSA) region, and 100% of Rough Trade Benelux. Effective 8 July 1999, Rough Trade Records was renamed Zomba Records GmbH and the Rough Trade sales and distribution arm was renamed Zomba Distribution, operating as a division of Zomba Records GmbH.[28][70] As of the BMG purchase, Zomba conducted its own distribution in the UK (with Pinnacle), Germany, Austria and Benelux (all with Zomba Distribution). In those areas, Zomba also distributed for various smaller independent labels. In France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, Zomba had its own marketing and sales; however, distribution was handled by EMI (through Virgin in most cases). In Finland and Greece, Zomba material was exclusively licensed to EMI who controlled marketing, sales and distribution. North American distribution has almost exclusively been with BMG. Following the BMG purchase in December 2002 and subsequent integration in June 2003 and the end of contracts with EMI (also in June), all distribution has been handled by the local BMG companies. When BMG merged with Sony, Sony BMG became Zomba's distributor from 2004 until early 2009. Zomba products were thereupon distributed by Sony Music since Sony purchased BMG's interest in their joint-venture.
Zomba Recording Corporation
Zomba Recording Corporation (previously Zomba Productions Ltd., and sometimes colloquially referred to as Zomba Records[71]) is a music company and division of the Zomba Group. The US affiliate is Zomba Recording LLC[57] and the UK affiliate is Zomba Records Ltd. The company also runs an investment and financial services company called Zomba Ventures Inc.[72][73]
Primarily a production company, Zomba Recording Corporation coordinates various activities for the recording process including the hiring of musicians, managing studios, and organization of production, mixing, and mastering personnel. Recordings made under the coordination or supervision of this division were marked with the phrase "An Original Sound Recording Made by Zomba Recording Corporation (or Zomba Recording LLC/Zomba Records Limited/Zomba Productions Limited)." While not strictly a record label, Zomba Recording Corporation appears on most of the various sublabels that Zomba owns. Additionally, the minimal manufacturing as well as some distribution that Zomba does on its own is run through this company.
Battery Studios is the name of Zomba Recording Corporation's chain of multi-room facilities often used in the music production of Zomba artists. The main facility, located in New York City, is constantly associated with high-profile clients including
In addition to recording studios, Zomba Recording Corporation operated Dreamhire Professional audio Rentals. Dreamhire opened in 1984 with operations in
Zomba Label Group
During its existence, the Zomba Label Group featured all of the Zomba-related labels that BMG purchased in 2002. The current Battery Records is unrelated to the previous defunct imprint of the same name. The structure of the Zomba Label Group immediately before its rebranding and dissolution in 2009 included:
- Battery Records
- Jive Records
- LaFace Records
- Silvertone Records
- So So Def Recordings
- Volcano Entertainment
- Verity Gospel Music Group(previously Zomba Gospel)
- F. Hammond Music
- Fo Yo Soul Entertainment
- GospoCentric
- New Life Records
- Quiet Water Entertainment
- Verity Records
Provident Music Group
The Provident Music Group was created by Zomba in 1997 as an amalgamation of their Christian music activities. Zomba had purchased Brentwood Music Group in February 1994 and founder Jim Van Cook was charged with leading the new music group. The group consisted of three sections: Provident Label Group, Provident-Integrity Distribution and the Brentwood/Benson Publishing Group.
As part of the music group, Zomba amalgamated their Christian labels under the Provident Label Group. The new group initially consisted of Brentwood Records, Benson Records and Reunion Records, though Brentwood was shut down in 2001. Since then, other labels have been added. Under Zomba, the Provident Label Group had this configuration:
- Benson Records
- Diadem Records
- Essential Records
- Sub•Lime Records
- Watershed Records
- Flicker Records
- Reunion Records
- Rode Dog Records
- Verity Records
After BMG bought Zomba in 2002 and integrated the company in June 2003, the Provident Music Group was moved under the aegis of RCA with the exception of the Publishing division, which was moved under BMG Publishing (Provident would later create its own publishing division, Essential Music Publishing, with no connection to Zomba[79]). BMG Publishing was subsequently sold to Universal, along with Brentwood/Benson. In 2008, when Sony bought Bertelsmann's stake in their joint Sony BMG venture, the rest of Provident became part of Sony Music Nashville.[80]
Windsong (Pinnacle, Rough Trade, Music For Nations)
In 1996, Zomba acquired the holdings of Windsong International. The deal gave the following controlling interests to Zomba:[27]
- Collins Classics - Opened in 1989, closed in 1998.
- Connoisseur Collection - Released high quality, mid price compilation.
- Music For Nations- Metal/hard-rock label that closed in 2004.
- independent record labels.
- Rough Trade (80% of Rough Trade Records Germany/Switzerland/Austria and 100% of Rough Trade Benelux) - German distributor and label group.
- Windsong Exports - Exporter of music and film/TV.
- Windsong in Concert - Windsong's collection of "BBC in Concert" recordings.
Rough Trade GSA was renamed Zomba Records GmbH, while the Benelux operation (which only had distribution at the time) was absorbed into Zomba Distribution. The Rough Trade name only remained as an imprint of Zomba Records GmbH. Before being absorbed into BMG's operations, Zomba Records GmbH consisted of the following regional labels, most of which focused on electronic dance music:[81]
- Advanced
- Air
- Form & Function
- Our Choice
- Reihe Ego
- Rough Trade
- World Service
Zomba Records GmbH was integrated into BMG's German operation along with the other regional offices. The Rough Trade name was later reacquired by
Zomba International Records Group
Zomba International Records Group managed the various regional branches opened as early as 1997 and as late as 2003. The group served to solidify the operations in these regions, some of which already had small offices with activities from scouting, promoting (such as Sweden), or as much as distribution for smaller labels or operating a few regional record labels (such as Germany). Following the BMG purchase, all of the remaining regional labels (with the exception of the main US and UK offices) and the Zomba International Records Group activities were merged with their respective local BMG offices in mid-2003.
Name | Opened | Distributor[1] | Location[82] | Director |
---|---|---|---|---|
Zomba Records Australia Pty. Ltd.[83] | 24 May 1999 | Sony Australia | Sydney , Australia
|
Scott Murphy (March 1999 - Feb. 2001) Paul Paoliello (1 March 2001 - ?)[33] |
Zomba Records (Canada) Inc.[84] | 1 July 1999 | BMG Canada | Toronto | Laura Bartlett |
Zomba Records APRO Pty Ltd.[85][86] (also called Zomba Records Singapore) |
1 July 1999 | BMG Singapore | Singapore | Julius Ng |
Zomba Records GmbH (Germany)[70] | 8 July 1999[2] | Zomba Distribution | Köln, Germany
|
|
Zomba Records GesmbH[67] | 8 July 1999[2] | Zomba Distribution | Vienna, Austria
|
|
Zomba Records GmbH (Switzerland) | 8 July 1999[2] | Zomba Distribution | Zürich, Switzerland
|
|
Zomba Records Benelux[87] | 8 July 1999[2] | Zomba Distribution | Hilversum, Netherlands | Bert Meyer (1999–2003) |
Zomba Records France SARL | 1 October 1999 | Virgin | Paris , France
|
|
Zomba Records Scandinavia AB[3][29][88] | 1999 | Virgin | Stockholm , Sweden
|
Bert Meyer (1999-??) Magnus Bohman (main office, 2000–2001) Kenneth Ruiz-Davila (Norway, 2000–2001; GM of region after 2001-09-03)[88] |
Zomba Record Holdings BV[29] | 1999 | Zomba Distribution | Brussels , Belgium
|
Thierry Thielemens |
Zomba Records New Zealand Ltd.[89] | 1 July 2000 | BMG New Zealand | Auckland, New Zealand | Morrie Smith |
Zomba Records Korea Ltd.[90] | 1 July 2000 | Rock Records | Seoul, Korea
|
Chang-Hak Lee |
Zomba Records Espana SA[29] | 1 July 2000 | Virgin | Madrid , Spain
|
Andres Ochaita |
Zomba Records Italy SRL[29] | 1 July 2000 | Virgin | Milan , Italy
|
Roberto Biglia |
Zomba Records Japan KK[86] | 1 October 2000 | Avex (Second)
|
Tokyo, Japan
|
Tak Kitazawa |
Zomba Records Portugal[92] | 1 July 2001 | Valentim de Carvalho | Lisbon , Portugal
|
Andres Ochaita |
Zomba Records Brasil Ltda.[93] | 1 July 2001 | Virgin (first) Som Livre (second) |
Rio de Janeiro , Brazil
|
Martin Davis |
- [1]: Distribution information in this chart is from approximately 1999 until the BMG integration.
- [2]: Zomba Records in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Benelux had been in operation as Rough Trade since Zomba had acquired the company in 1996. 8 July 1999 marks the date the Rough Trade name was dropped in favor of Zomba.
- [3]: The Scandinavian operations started with offices in Norway and Denmark. When Kenneth Ruiz-Davila was appointed the head of Zomba Scandinavia in September 2001, the Swedish offices were also moved under the larger company.[88] The Denmark and Norway operations later closed on 1 July 2002, leaving the Swedish office remaining.[94]
Other inactive/former labels
Aside from those listed above, other labels that have been associated with Zomba over the years are listed below.
- Associated Production Music (APM) - Production music library and music services company. Was initially a joint venture between Zomba/Jive and EMI. Still operating as a joint venture between Sony and Universal (successor to EMI and Zomba/Jive production music companies).[95]
- Conifer Records Ltd. - Classical label formed in 1977, purchased by Zomba in 1992 and sold to BMG in 1996.[96]
- Internal Affairs
- Trademark Records - Formed under Zomba Records Australia.
- X-Over Recordings - Formed under Zomba Records Australia.
- Zed Beat
- Zomba Production Music - UK-based supplier of Library and Production Music intended for professional use and not released to the general public. They released music through these various sublabels.[97] Not to be confused with Zomba Productions Ltd. which is an earlier name of Zomba Recording Corporation. Currently operating as part of Universal Production Music.
- Chappell Recording Music Library
- Bruton Music - Label of the Bruton Music Group purchased by Zomba in 1985.
- Firstcom Music Inc.
- Galerie
- Connect 2 Music
- Zomba Special Projects - Imprint established in 1997 for specific projects like releases sold through McDonald's restaurants.[98]
- Zomba Video - Imprint used for music-related video releases.
- Under Jive
- Battery Records - Unrelated to the current Battery Records, this was a dance label active in the nineties.
- Dance Jive - Dance label active in the early 2000s.
- Steps.[99]
- Jive Afrika - Created in 1984 for release of South African material (most prominently, Hugh Masekela).
- Jive House - Formed in the mid-nineties for house music.
- Pepper Records - Formed in the late nineties.
- Violator Records - Purchased by Jive in 2003. New York hip-hop label run by Chris Lighty and Mona Scott.
- Worx Records - Formed in the mid nineties for electronic music.
Publishing division
Zomba Music Publishing Ltd. (sometimes colloquially referred to as Zomba Music or Zomba Music Publishing Group) is the publishing division of the Zomba Group of Companies. Initially known as Zomba Enterprises Inc., the division officially changed names in 1994 and became the Zomba Umbrella Company for Publishing. Since then, Zomba Enterprises is the name used for Zomba's
- Bluey Tunes Productions Ltd. (England)
- Brentwood Music Inc.
- Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing Inc.
- Bruton Music Ltd.
- Firstcom Music Inc. (US)
- Firstcommusic Inc. (US)
- Grantsville Publishing Ltd. (England)
- Grever International S.A. (Texas)[104]
- Marlowlynn Ltd. (England)
- M56 Publishing Ltd. (England)
- Street Music Ltd. (England)
- Take Out Music Publishing Ltd. (England)
- Zomba Enterprises Inc.
- Zomba Golden Sands Enterprises, Inc.[104]
- Zomba Melodies Inc. (New York)
- Zomba Music Inc. (New York)
- Zomba Music Publishers Ltd. (England)
- Zomba Silver Sands Enterprises Inc. (Texas)
- Zomba Songs Inc. (New York)
Zomba has limited activity in the classical music publishing sector; however, they are quite active in the pop music publishing and music production. At the time of the BMG purchase, Zomba had pop music publishing operations located in the UK and Benelux, while every other territory was sub-published with BMG. Production music operations were located in the UK and France with smaller operations in Sweden and the Netherlands. In Germany and Austria, Zomba and BMG owned publishing rights through jointly-owned companies. Finally, in Spain and Italy, Zomba compositions were licensed exclusively to BMG.[66]
In mid-2003, BMG integrated Zomba's publishing to form BMG-Zomba Music Publishers. In 2007, Vivendi purchased the BMG-Zomba publishing company and placed it within Universal Music Publishing Group, becoming the world's largest music publishing business.[105][106] For antitrust reasons, Universal divested the European rights to the Zomba catalogue to a new company named Imagem.[107] In 2017, Imagem was acquired by Concord Music Group.[108]
Management companies
Zomba's first enterprise was a management company in London called Zomba Management and Publishers, with
Film/television services
Most of Zomba's activities in the film and television industry were music related. Zomba Screen Music was their full-service management company for film and television composers. In addition to management, Zomba! Music Services was formed in 1989 as a division offering prerecorded music and publishing services for soundtracks, television and commercials.[112] This also had the effect of promoting Zomba music through the television and film industry.[113] In 1995, Zomba purchased the well-established Segue Music Inc., a film and television music editing company providing music supervision, temp tracks, prerecords, playbacks and soundtrack production.[114][115] Zomba also had a joint operation with Portman Entertainment called Portman Music, a soundtrack related company Coombe Music International Ltd., and a small film production company called Zomba Films. In 2005, Zomba began SEE Music, a joint venture with the recently combined BMG/Zomba Publishing and FirstCom Music specifically for motion picture advertising.[116]
See also
- List of record labels
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l White, Adam; Newman, Melinda (5 May 2001). "The Untold Saga of the Zomba Group". Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 18. pp. 1, 98–100.
- ^ a b Who Owns Who: Continental Europe 2005/06. Vol. 3. Bucks: Dun & Bradstreet. 2006.
- ^ The largest variation of this name is found in Zomba ads (example in Billboard from 1996), however, trade magazines and other sources use either of the three names.
- ^ "Jive Label Group Artist Grammy Nominations". Archived from the original on 15 November 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
- ^ Halperin, Shirley (7 October 2011). "RCA Execs Confirm Jive and Arista Labels Shut Down". The Hollywood Reporter.
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Resources
- Cohen, Jane; Bob Grossweiner (6 July 2007). "Industry Profile: Ralph Simon". CelebrityAccess.com. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
- Knopper, Steve (2009). Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age. New York: Free Press. (primarily Chapter 3)
- Pederson, Jay (2003). International Directory of Company Histories. Vol. 52. New York: ISBN 978-1-55862-482-5. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
- Scott, Ajax (August 1996). "Clive Calder". Music Business International. 6 (4).
- White, Timothy (5 May 2001). "Billboard: The International Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home Entertainment" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 18. (this issue features a "Special Report" with multiple articles about Zomba)
External links
- Official website (archived)