RMM Records | |
---|---|
Parent company | Universal Music Group |
Founded | 1987 |
Founder | Ralph Mercado |
Defunct | 2001 |
Distributor(s) | Sony Discos, Universal Music Enterprises |
Genre | Salsa, merengue, tropical, Latin jazz |
Country of origin | U.S. |
Location | New York City |
RMM Records, also known as RMM Records & Video Corp, was an independent Latin music record label established in 1987 and based in New York City. The label was most active during the late 1980s and early 1990s and produced primarily salsa, Latin jazz, and merengue music. At its peak, RMM Records employed 55 staff members and had distribution deals in 42 cities around the world, occupying 9,000 square feet in two floors at its Soho headquarters. The label was established by Fania Records promoter Ralph Mercado, who had established RMM Management in 1972 as an artist management and booking agency, providing bookings for Latin artists Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, and Ray Barretto.
Artists who recorded for the label included Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Tito Nieves, Oscar D'Leon, Eddie Palmieri, Cheo Feliciano, Ismael Miranda, José Alberto "El Canario", Tony Vega, Johnny Rivera, Ray Sepúlveda, Domingo Quiñones, Miles Peña, Orquesta Guayacan, Conjunto Clasico, Manny Manuel, the New York Band, Marc Anthony & La India. Record producers included Sergio George, Isidro Infante, and Humberto Ramirez.
RMM filed for bankruptcy in November 2000, selling its assets to Universal Music Group. [1] According to the NY Times, [2] unpaid royalties, as well as a lawsuit settlement of $7.7 million to Glenn Monroig totaling over $11 million, plus interest, contributed to the end of RMM Records. On June 25, 2001, as part of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy sale, Universal Music Group (UMG) announced the acquisition of RMM’s assets. [3]
Salsa music is a style of Caribbean music, combining elements of Cuban, Puerto Rican, and American influences. Because most of the basic musical components predate the labeling of salsa, there have been many controversies regarding its origin. Most songs considered as salsa are primarily based on son montuno and son Cubano, with elements of cha-cha-chá, bolero, rumba, mambo, jazz, R&B, rock, bomba, and plena. All of these elements are adapted to fit the basic Son montuno template when performed within the context of salsa.
Humberto "Tito" Nieves is a Puerto Rican musician who became one of the leading salsa singers of the 1980s and the early 1990s.
Linda Bell Viera Caballero, known professionally as La India, is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter of salsa, house music and Latin pop. La India has been nominated for both Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, winning the Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album for the Intensamente La India Con Canciones De Juan Gabriel album.
Grupo Niche is a salsa group founded in 1978 in Cali, Colombia. It enjoyed great popularity throughout Latin America. It was founded by Jairo Varela and Alexis Lozano. Varela remained with the group throughout his life, serving as producer, director, songwriter, vocalist, and guiro player. Alexis Lozano, trombone player and arranger later left to form Orquesta Guayacán. The group also included Nicolas Cristancho "Macabi" on the piano, Francisco Garcia "Porky" on the bass, Luis Pacheco, on the congas, and vocalists Jorge Bazán and Hector Viveros.
The Fania All-Stars is a musical group formed in 1968 as a showcase for the musicians on Fania Records, the leading salsa music record label of the time.
Juan Pablo Knipping Pacheco, known as Johnny Pacheco, was a Dominican musician, arranger, composer, bandleader, and record producer. Born in the Dominican Republic, Pacheco became a leading figure in the New York salsa scene in the 1960s and 1970s as the founder and musical director of Fania Records.
Sergio George is an American pianist, arranger, and record producer, known for working with many famous performers of salsa music, although he has worked in other genres of the music industry as well. He has worked with some of Latin music's most popular artists starting with Marc Anthony, DLG, Jennifer Lopez, Tito Nieves, Víctor Manuelle, Frankie Negrón, Johnny Rivera, Ray Sepúlveda, Tito Puente, Thalia, Orquesta de la Luz, Ivy Queen, Celia Cruz, La India, Jerry Rivera, Bacilos, Leslie Grace, Toby Love, Cheo Feliciano, Prince Royce, Liz Elias, Indy Flow, among others.
Alfredo Manuel De La Fé is a Cuban-born and New York–based violinist who lived in Colombia for more than 16 years and is responsible for adapting the violin to Colombian traditional dance music creating innovative Salsa and Latin American music. The first solo violinist to perform with a Salsa orchestra, De La Fé has toured the world more than thirty times, appearing in concert and participating in over 100 albums by top Latin artists, including Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, José Alberto "El Canario", Cheo Feliciano, The Fania All-Stars, Santana and Larry Harlow. His second solo album entitled Alfredo released in 1979 was a Grammy nominee for "Best Latin album".
Tempo Latino is a festival of salsa music and Latin music in Vic-Fezensac, France.
Sonny Bravo, born Elio Osacar, is an Afro-Cuban jazz and Latin jazz pianist. He was once a very good baseball player with many prospects born in New York, New York, though due to an injury in 1956 he sought out a career in music. It was then he started performing with Many Campo, El Casino de Miami, José Fajardo and many others. He also recorded with Tito Puente and Bobby Paunetto.
Tropical Tribute to the Beatles is a tribute album of tropical artists released in 1996 by RMM Records, produced by Oscar Gomez.
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The International Latin Music Hall of Fame (ILMHF) was an annual event established in 1999 and held in New York City to honor artists who have largely contributed to the Latin music genre.
Ralph Mercado Jr. was an American businessman and music promoter. He promoted Latin American music — Latin Jazz, Latin rock, merengue and salsa — and established a network of businesses that included promoting concerts, managing artists, Ritmo Mundo Musical (RMM) a record label the most important in the Latin industry during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, as well as a film company, nightclubs and restaurants.
Ernest AnthonyPuente Jr., commonly known as TitoPuente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music.
Israel Tanenbaum-Rivera is an American pianist, music producer, composer, arranger and audio engineer who has produced more than 50 albums and participated in over 100 recordings.
Harvey Averne has been described as "one of several prominent Jewish Americans in New York's bustling Latin music scene."
"Mi Mayor Venganza" is a song by Puerto Rican singer La India from her fifth studio album, Sobre el Fuego (1997). The song was written by Rodolfo Barreras and produced by Isidro Infante, and released as the album's second single in 1997 by RMM Records. It is a salsa song, in which La India tells the woman to keep the man who cheated on the artist out of revenge.
This article includes an overview of the major events and trends in Latin music in the 1970s, namely in Ibero-America. This includes recordings, festivals, award ceremonies, births and deaths of Latin music artists, and the rise and fall of various subgenres in Latin music from 1970 to 1979.
Sergio George Presents: Salsa Giants is a live album by various artists and American pianist and record producer Sergio George. It was released on 24 June 2013 through Top Stop Music and Sony Music Latin. It has the participation of artists with whom George recorded and produced albums in the past such as Tito Nieves, Marc Anthony, Oscar D'León, Luis Enrique, and Orquesta de la Luz among others.
Universal Music Group sold rmm catalogue.