A&M RECORDS HISTORY 2000-
To understand A&M in the 2000s, one must look at the changes in the music industry. During the 1960s and 70s, the main ingredients in the industry were to record an album, tour in support of it, and promote it through radio and television. As Jerry Moss noted, the relationship between the artist and the audience had a large component of live performance.
In the mid-1980s, music videos came to be a part of the marketing mix. Herb Alpert said, "People started listening with their eyes as well as their ears. It's almost a different genre." A&M was as active in developing videos as any label--starting as early as 1969 with Mad Dogs and Englishmen and filming artist performances. Next, A&M increased its presence in film music. Not only did A&M Films create feature films, A&M it was the first to create soundtracks with music written and performed by its artists. A&M recognized that films were another way people found new music. A&M was also one of the first labels to have its music included in video games and to make songs by its artists available for use in television shows and advertising. These were natural response to radio programming that was based on narrow listener demographics.
The 1990s brought the rise of the internet and even more flexible ways to distribute music. The advent of digital file sharing of both audio and video files plus the ease of music sampling gave rise to questions of intellectual property rights, new copyright laws, and court decisions because of the proliferation of sharing. Technology put the ability to distribute new music and films and music to an audience of millions in the time it took to upload files to a web site. Technology also gave everyone the chance to promote music they liked which altered the nature of retail music forever. File sharing and CD burning eroded sales in record stores as people discovered it was more convenient to shop for music online. Major music retail chains like Tower Records, Sam Goody and others went out of business.
The music industry itself experienced a turnover in many of its executive offices as a result of trying to keep innovators at the helm. A&M's owner, Universal Music Group, had executives that wanted the industry to support legal distribution of music while ensuring that both artists and the record companies' large investments in making CDs and videos and funding tours were paid for those investments. Much of the news coming from Universal were announcements of new partnerships that advanced the technology and created new avenues to make music available.
All these changes coupled with A&M's new status an imprint label within Universal Music, put A&M in a very different position and a different music market than it had been at any point in its history. As an imprint, it shared staff with other Universal labels, and the A&M back catalog was reissued by different divisions and labels within the Universal group.
2000
Universal bought Rondor Music and Almo Sounds for nearly $500 million and took over operations in December 2000. This sale was also to be the settlement of outstanding lawsuits filed by Alpert and Moss against Universal.
The Jim Henson Co., which bought the A&M Records lot, reopened two of the A&M Studios in February, still under the direction of A&Mer Ron Rutledge and a core of A&M staff.
The major lawsuit A&M Records et al v Napster Inc. entered the courtroom phase in October in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The case alleged that Napster infringed on the record labels' copyrights through its peer-to-peer file sharing system. The Court of Appeals found in favor of the record labels and its decision stopped Napster "from engaging in, or facilitating others in copying, downloading, uploading, transmitting, or distributing plaintiffs' (record labels) copyrighted musical compositions and sound recordings, protected by either federal or state law, without express permission of the rights owners." The court determined that repeated copying of a work, even if there is no direct profit from the copy, is a commercial use because it saved the cost of buying an authorized recording. The court also found Napster copies were not covered by the "fair use" provision of the copyright law because the copies reduced CD sales and also made it difficult for the labels to commercially sell downloaded music. The court recognized that the private individual who made his/her legal copy of a CD available through Napster was simultaneously making it available to the millions of Napster users and this was more than putting the CD on one's computer for personal use.
In 2000, A&M had 52 releases. Gold and platinum certifications continued to decline thanks to digital downloads. The only new album to score was Sting's Brand New Day that went gold and double platinum. The Carpenters and Amy Grant each received gold albums for albums from the late 1980s and early 1990s. Styx's Greatest Hits went platinum. Two releases from 1998 went gold and platinum, MxPx's Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo and Jonny Lang's Wander This World respectively.
2001
Two years after Universal let Al Cafaro go in its downsizing of A&M it named Ron Fair president of A&M. He became the fourth president of the company since its founding 39 years earlier. Fair had a highly successful 25-year track record in the music business as a producer, arranger, musician, and recording engineer.
There were five gold and 15 platinum certifications given to A&M artists for recordings made while A&M was an independent label. There were no certifications for 38 new releases in 2001. Cat Stevens got four gold albums and nine platinum.
2002
Universal Vivendi paid Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss $250 million because its accounting practices had not properly compensated them. A&M released 47 recordings. Sting, Sheryl Crow and newly signed Vanessa Carlton each had a gold album for new releases. Crow and Carlton enjoyed platinum status. The Police were awarded platinum for two of their albums.
Almo/Irving/Rondor Music in Nashville underwent a major change in its Vice President. David Conrad stepped down and Bobby Rymer, who had been with Almo for 12 years, was promoted. Conrad established the Nashville office in the 1970s and signed its songwriting staff. In A&M/Almo's inclusive culture, Conrad said, "Writers at the company have expressed enthusiastic support...Bobby is ready for the next step and I have complete trust and faith that all of our writers and the future of Almo Irving Nashville is in excellent hands."
2003
The Black Eyed Peas, Sheryl Crow and Sting had new albums that went gold among the 50 that came out. Ten years after its release, Denis Leary's No Cure for Cancer picked up a gold record. The Police were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Universal celebrated The Police by releasing Every Breath You Take: the Classics on hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD), SACD surround sound and CD audio versions.
2004
For the first time since it gained control of A&M, all the gold and platinum certs for the year went to material released under Universal with five awards going to the Black Eyed Peas, four to Sheryl Crow. and one each for Bryan Adams and Sting. There were 26 CDs released.
2005
A&M founders Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss donated the A&M Records archives to UCLA's special collections library. The collection included correspondence, legal documents, musical arrangements and memorabilia. A&M had 29 releases. Of the gold and platinum certifications, six went to the Black Eyed Peas, two for Sheryl Crow and one apiece to Sting, Styx, Keyshia Cole and the Pussycat Dolls.
Universal was pleased to announce that "A&M Still Stands for Artists and Music; Storied Label Has Biggest Chart Week in Nineteen Years Under the Direction of President Ron Fair. A&M accomplishes a double-double; two albums and two singles among Billboard's Top 10 sellers (The Black Eyed Peas Monkey Business album and single "Don't Phunk with My Heart", Keyshia Cole's album The Way It Is and the Pussycat Dolls' single "Don't Cha)."
2006
Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ron Fair was tapped to head Geffen Records but remained involved in A&M's operations. At Rondor Music, Ron Moss (son of Jerry Moss and the Ron in Rondor) was named Executive Vice President/Creative. Moss had been an engineer, worked in promotion and A&R, and music publishing. Among the songwriters Ron Moss brought to Rondor were Avril Lavigne and Twista.
In March, Ron Fair was named Chairman of Geffen Records and in May A&M executive Step Johnson was promoted to President of Urban Music for Interscope, Geffen and A&M Records.
There were 17 releases in 2006. The Pussycat Dolls were awarded one gold and three platinum records and Keyshia Cole got a platinum disc. Three of the four certs were for singles.
2007
The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS/Grammy) honored Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss with the President's Merit Award for their contribution to popular music on February 11. In a private reception following the Grammys, three generations of A&M artists came to salute their former bosses. Sting said, "You felt like you could sit on their desks and sing your dreams to them" and that the Police felt that in signing with the label, "We always felt we'd be looked after."
On February 20 Universal announced that it bought Octone Records and would merge it with A&M Records. The resulting label was named A&M/Octone. Octone was a seven-year-old label based in New York. As a result of the merger, A&M would for the first time be headquartered in New York. Octone's president, James Diener, was promoted to CEO and president of A&M/Octone. Diener brought Octone's general manager David Boxenbaum and its VP for promotion Ben Berkman to the new label. Current A&M artists would contine to be marketed under the A&M label and new signings under the A&M/Octone name. The first release from A&M/Octone came in May 2007.
SOURCES:
1. 6 Questions with Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss. Brian Garrity. Billboard, February 24, 2007.2. Acclaimed Producer, Musician and Label Executive Ron Fair Promoted to Chairman of Geffen Records. Universal Music Group Press Release, August 14, 2006.
3. Bobby Rymer Appointed Vice President Almo Irving/Rondor Music Nashville. Universal Music Group Press Release, October 4, 2002.
4. A&M Records Still Stands for Artists and Music. Universal Music Group Press Release, July 1, 2005.
5. Ron Moss Promoted to Executive Vice President/Creative for Rondor Music Publishing.
Universal Music Group Press Release, October 2, 2006.
6. Alpert & Moss Honored by Grammy Group. Associated Press.
7. Beatles Ready for Legal Downloading Soon. Roger Friedman. Fox News. February 12, 2007.
8. Interscope Geffen A&M Acquires Octone. Todd Martens. Billboard.
