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| Type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music entertainment |
| Founded | 1923 (New York) |
| Founder | Larry Spier Sr. |
| Headquarters | New York City , US |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Services | Music publishing |
| Website | memorylanemusicgroup |
Memory Lane Music Group is a worldwide independent music publishing company established in 1923 by Larry Spier Sr. [1]
The company began in 1923 when Larry Spier Sr., composed "Memory Lane" with Con Conrad, and Buddy DeSylva (words). [2] It was a huge hit, later revived in the 1944 Abbott and Costello film In Society , [3] and was Spier's entry into the music business. In 1928, he, Sam Coslow, and Andy Britt composed the hit "Was It a Dream". With Coslow, Spier formed the music publishing company Spier and Coslow in 1928.
In 1929, the company was sold to Paramount Pictures. The two split, with Coslow becoming a movie producer, and Spier starting a successful career as general manager of Chappell Music. While at Chappell, he was involved in such Broadway hits as Oklahoma! , Bloomer Girl , State Fair , and South Pacific .
In 1938, Spier started Larry Spier Music Publishers Inc. to control "Memory Lane" and other copyrights. Among the songs it published was "In the Beauty of Tahoe" (1941) by Harold Adamson, Joe DiMaggio, and Pierce Norman. [4] His son, Larry Spier, Jr. (1929–2003), began working at the company in 1950, and in 1955, took over as president, picking up where his father left off with The Four Lads hit "Moments to Remember", which reached No. 2 on Billboard in 1955. Larry Spier, Sr. (ne Lorenz or Lawrence Reginald Spier; born April 3, 1901, Manhattan, New York) died on November 10, 1956, at his Central Park West home. [5] [6]
In the 1960s, Larry Spier, Jr., started Memory Lane Music Corp. to represent songwriters affiliated with BMI. In 1979, he started Memory Lane Music Ltd., a UK-based company, to handle foreign administration and British reversionary rights. Memory Lane Music Ltd. Pty was formed in 1982 to manage copyrights in Australia and New Zealand.
The 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s were productive years for the company with several dance hits, including "Babe We're Going to Love Tonight" and "Your Love" by Lime, both certified gold in France and Benelux. "Touch Me", recorded by Cathy Dennis, was a worldwide hit, and awarded "Top Performed Song" by ASCAP in 1991.
In 1985, Memory Lane Music Corp. ventured into the record business, producing "Thinking About Your Love" by Skipworth & Turner. The song reached No. 1 on the dance charts in the United States and the UK. Many reputable catalogs were signed, including those of George Weiss, Ervin Drake, Larry Stock, and Joseph Meyer. In 2003, Larry Spier, Jr.'s, son, Mark Spier, assumed control of the company. [7] [8]
In 2006, Scion Three Music (BMI) and Scion Four Music (ASCAP) were formed by Mark Spier as Memory Lane's contemporary division. Scion has since signed over 30 established and up-and-coming songwriters who have written for Beyoncé, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Lopez, Jay Z, Rihanna, Joss Stone, Snoop Dogg, Pink, Mary J. Blige, Swizz Beatz, Koda Kumi, Craig David, and Jo Dee Messina.
In early 2009, Scion North and Scion Arctic (both SOCAN) were formed to handle the publishing of Canadian songwriters. [9] In 2012, Memory Lane Music Group opened an office in Los Angeles, [10] and expanded its headquarters in New York. [11]
In November 2015, Spier Music Publishing merged with September Music to form Memory Lane Music Group. [12]
In September 2017, the family of Haven Gillespie sued Memory Lane for $700 thousand, asking for an 85% stake in his song "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town". [13]
In June 2020, Memory Lane signed an administration deal with Atlas Music Group, which will represent the publisher worldwide. [14]
Memory Lane Music Group administers the publishing rights of thousands of songs, controlling the libraries of artists including The Blakes and Nola Darling. [15]
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadcasters, and digital streaming services.
"Stardust" is a pop song written by Hoagy Carmichael and Mitchell Parish. Now considered a standard and part of the Great American Songbook, the song has been recorded over 1,500 times either as an instrumental or vocal track, featuring different performers. During his time attending Indiana University, Carmichael developed a taste for jazz. He formed his own band and played at local events in Indiana and Ohio. Following his graduation, Carmichael moved to Florida to work for a law firm. He left the law sector and returned to Indiana, after learning of the success of one of his compositions. In 1927, after leaving a local university hangout, Carmichael started to whistle a tune that he later developed further. When composing the song, he was inspired by the end of one of his love affairs, and on the suggestion of a university classmate, he decided on its title. The same year, Carmichael recorded an instrumental version of the song for Gennett Records.
Sam Coslow was an American songwriter, singer, film producer, publisher and market analyst. Coslow was born in New York City. He began writing songs as a teenager. He contributed songs to Broadway revues, formed the music publishing company Spier and Coslow with Larry Spier and made a number of recordings as a performer.
Peter Paul Cetera is a retired American musician best known for being a frontman, vocalist, and bassist for the American rock band Chicago from 1967 until his departure in 1985. His career as a recording artist encompasses 17 studio albums with Chicago and eight solo studio albums.
The Harry Fox Agency (HFA) is a provider of rights management and collector and distributor of mechanical license fees on behalf of music publishers in the United States. HFA has over 48,000 music publishing clients and issues the largest number of licenses for physical and digital formats of music. It was founded in 1927 by the National Music Publishers Association. The agency was sold to performing rights organization SESAC in 2015, which was itself acquired by The Blackstone Group in 2017.
Wayne Anthony Hector is a British songwriter who is best known for his work with pop artists such as Nicki Minaj, One Direction, the Wanted, Toše Proeski and Olly Murs. He co-wrote seven of Westlife's number one singles, including "World of Our Own" and "Flying Without Wings".
"Hello, I Love You" is a song recorded by American rock band the Doors for their 1968 album Waiting for the Sun. Elektra Records released it as a single that same year, which topped the charts in the U.S. and Canada. Although the Doors are credited as the songwriters, songs by other artists have been identified as likely sources.
Josh Kear is a multi-Grammy Award winning songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee.
Stargate is a record producing and songwriting team composed of Tor E. Hermansen and Mikkel S. Eriksen, based in Los Angeles, USA. The team's genres include R&B, pop and hip hop. Stargate was established in Trondheim, Norway.
Dean Kay is a US American entertainer, recording artist, songwriter and music publishing executive.
Howard Spencer Richmond was an American music publisher and music industry executive. He established The Richmond Organization, Inc. (TRO), one of the largest independent music publishing organizations in the world, and had a hand in commercializing and promoting many pop, folk and rock songs since the 1940s.
Larry Wagner was an American arranger, composer, and bandleader. He worked for the band of Paul Whiteman and was long associated with Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra. His compositions "Whistler's Mother-in-Law", "No Name Jive" and "Turn Back the Hands of Time" became nationally popular.
Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell Music, Inc. was an American music publishing company founded by film producer Harold Hecht, his brother-in-law Loring Buzzell, and Hecht's business partner, actor/producer Burt Lancaster. Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell Music was solely associated with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). The three partners also founded the music publishing company Calyork Music, Inc., which was solely associated with Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI). Hecht, Lancaster and Buzzell also briefly operated their own record label, Calyork Records, which was active in the late 1950s. Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell Music, Calyork Music and Calyork Records were divisions of Hecht and Lancaster's film production corporation Norma Productions.
Helen Searles Westbrook was an American composer and organist who appeared with Chicago Symphony.
Loring Bruce Buzzell was an American music publisher and record label executive. Together with film producer Harold Hecht and actor Burt Lancaster, he formed a series of music publishing imprints in the middle and late 1950s. His music publishing companies, Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell Music, Calyork Music, Leigh Music and Colby Music, were responsible for copyrighting, publishing and promoting the soundtracks and theme songs from such notable films as Marty, Trapeze, The Kentuckian, Sweet Smell of Success, Separate Tables, Cry Tough, Take a Giant Step and The Unforgiven. Buzzell's companies also published "May You Always", the recordings of which by The McGuire Sisters for Coral Records and Joan Regan for HMV Records, became the top-selling records and the second-best-selling sheet music in the United States and the United Kingdom for 1959. Calyork Records and Maine Records were two independent record labels operated by Buzzell in partnership with Hecht and Lancaster.
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