Allied Artists Music Group
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Allied Artists Music Group (AAMG) is the
U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
based multinational music focused
entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...
and
record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
arm of Allied Artists International, Inc. (AAI), headquartered in
Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. In 1971, AAI's predecessor
Allied Artists Pictures Corporation An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
officially formed subsidiary Allied Artists Records. By 1999, Allied Artists Records encompassed numerous imprint labels, including the flagship Allied Artists Records, Allied Artists Music Co., Monogram Records, Vista Records and Brimstone Records. The record label is known for having released such historic motion picture soundtracks as Elvis Presley's 1965 "Tickle Me" and Liza Minnelli's 1972 "Cabaret." On the traditional recorded music side, the company is recognized for its releases of Latin heavy metal band Renegade's entire catalog, including 1983's "Rock 'n' Roll Crazy!" and Luis Cardenas' 1986 "Animal Instinct," among many others. In the year 2000, with sales of physical records (CDs & Vinyl) declining in lieu of digital downloads, Allied Artists Records consolidated all of its music related holdings into the newly branded "Allied Artists Music Group," becoming a formal division of its parent, AAI.


History


Early history

Prior to 1971, soundtracks were informally released under the "Allied Artists Records" or "Allied Artists Music" names. Allied Artists Records was officially formed by Allied Artists Pictures in 1971 to become the motion picture soundtrack releasing vehicle for its distributed motion pictures. Due to runaway production costs, Allied Artists Pictures was forced into bankruptcy in 1979. Allied Artists Records, which was an unaffected wholly owned subsidiary of Allied Artists Pictures, sought to expand its trademark and service mark rights to include all forms of entertainment, including those previously held by Allied Artists Pictures. By 1988, Allied Artists Records laid historical claim to recording artists such as
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
,
Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...
,
Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, tele ...
,
Bob Seger Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and The Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s, break ...
, and
Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American rock musician and activist. He initially gained fame as the lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist of The Amboy Dukes, a band formed in 1963 that played psychedelic rock an ...
. Allied Artists Records' historical roster and catalog include
Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...
,
Coolio Artis Leon Ivey Jr. (August 1, 1963 – September 28, 2022), known professionally as Coolio, was an American rapper. First rising to fame as a member of the gangsta rap group WC and the Maad Circle, Coolio achieved mainstream success as a solo ...
,
Luis Cardenas Luis Cardenas is a Latin-American drummer who has been active since the early 1980s, both as a solo act and as a member of the rock band Renegade. Renegade Renegade was formed in California in the early 1980s by Cardenas and the band's manager ...
,
David Hasselhoff David Michael Hasselhoff (born July 17, 1952), nicknamed "The Hoff", is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He has set a Guinness World Record as the most watched man on TV. Hasselhoff first gained recognition on ''The You ...
and
Renegade Renegade or The Renegade may refer to: Aircraft *Lake Renegade, an American amphibious aircraft design *Murphy Renegade, a Canadian ultralight biplane design *Southern Aeronautical Renegade, an American racing aircraft design Games *'' Comman ...
. In 2000, it was announced that Allied Artists Records would issue a Spanish-language recording by David Hasselhoff. Shortly thereafter, Allied Artists Records formally consolidated each of its imprint labels into "Allied Artists Music Group" in a cost-cutting measure designed to maximize distribution strength.


Current history and management

Shortly after the 2000 realignment of AAI's music holdings, Kim Richards, AAI's chief executive officer and chairman of the board, announced that former lawyer to
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
and co-manager of
The Bee Gees ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
, Robert Fitzpatrick had been named as AAMG's maiden president. Among Fitzpatrick's music contributions while helming AAMG were soundtracks for such box-office hits as
Pulp Fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhame ...
,
Remember the Titans ''Remember the Titans'' is a 2000 American biographical sports film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Boaz Yakin. The screenplay, written by Gregory Allen Howard, is based on the true story of coach Herman Boone, portrayed by Denzel W ...
and
The 51st State ''The 51st State'' (also known as ''Formula 51'') is a 2001 action comedy film directed by Ronny Yu, written by Stel Pavlou, and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Emily Mortimer, Ricky Tomlinson, Sean Pertwee, Rhys Ifans, Stephen ...
. Fitzpatrick notably broadened AAMG's domestic distribution into a global distribution network. As part of the "Fitzpatrick Plan," existing home video licensing agreements held by Allied Artists Film Group would be converted into direct distribution for a new wholly owned, but specialized entity to be combined with existing distribution held by AAMG. Today, the home video distribution arm of Allied Artists Film Group has been merged with AAMG's music distribution network, to create "Allied Artists Music & Video Distribution" (AAMVD), with global reach and presence on every continent. Fitzpatrick was elevated to president of parent AAI in June of 2006, naming former managing director of Warner Bros. Records U.K., Stephan Bauer-Stace, as his replacement. Bauer had an extensive history with such music icons as
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
,
The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
and
Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a focus ...
, which was a direction Richards envisioned for AAMG. Bauer was diagnosed with cancer in November of 2015, taking a leave of absence shortly thereafter. Longtime friend of both Richards and Bauer, John Velasco, former head of United Artists Music U.K., known for his decades of experience in the music industry, having played crucial roles in the careers of
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
,
ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...
, ELO,
John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...
,
Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
and Davy Jones, stepped in to manage AAMG during Bauer's absence. Bauer's health continued to decline until June of 2016 when he succumbed to the cancer. After Bauer's death, Richards announced that Velasco was being named permanent president of AAMG. Prior to Bauer's death, he signed Norwegian "Master Guitarist"
Rocky Kramer Sindre Langhelle (; born August 3, 1990), known professionally as Rocky Kramer (), is a Norwegian-American guitarist, singer, songwriter, composer and bandleader from Trondheim who is now based in Los Angeles. In 2018, Kramer became more widely ...
to AAMG. Bauer died before Kramer's debut album "Firestorm" was released. Under Velasco's leadership, Kramer's first single "Rock Star" spawned a hit music video and reached Number One on the Global DRT Chart. Kramer has been described as " e of the strongest and most poignant guitarists since
imi IMI may refer to: Companies and organizations * IMI plc, a British engineering company * IMI Systems, an Israeli weapons manufacturer * Indian Music Industry, a trust that represents the recording industry distributors in India * Indonesian Motor ...
Hendrix."


Labels

The anchor AAMG label, Allied Artists Records, takes its name and history from the original motion picture soundtrack label by the same name, established by Allied Artists Pictures in 1971. Today, Allied Artists Records remains as a mainstream anchor imprint, together with its wholly autonomous target market imprints, Allied Artists Music Co., Monogram Records, Brimstone Records and Vista Records.


Distribution

Allied Artists Pictures was among the first motion picture studios to self-distribute films for both itself and small independent film makers. In 1971, with the formation of Allied Artists Records, the company utilized
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
for domestic distribution of motion picture soundtracks. By the millennium, Allied Artists Records had developed its own robust global distribution network. As the distribution of motion pictures through major studios became cost prohibitive, Allied Artists Pictures began rediscovering its independent distribution roots. Simultaneous to restructuring the company's music holdings under Allied Artists Music Group, the motion picture holdings were restructured under Allied Artists Film Group. Both the music and film groups had their own forms of distribution, much of which overlapped. AAI, parent to both the film and music groups elected to merge both distribution arms into "Allied Artists Music & Video Distribution" (AAMVD). Today, all music and home video offerings are distributed by way of the AAMVD global distribution network.


References


External links

* {{Authority control American record labels Soundtrack record labels Record label distributors Companies based in Los Angeles American companies established in 1959 Entertainment companies established in 1959