Leopold Feist (January 3, 1869,

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– June 21, 1930,

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), in 1897 founded and ran a music publishing firm bearing his name. In the 1920s, at the height of the golden age of popular music, his firm was among the seven largest publishers of popular music in the world. Leo Feist, Inc., ran until 1934.

Leo Feist, Inc.

Feist marketed his publications very aggressively, even by

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

standards. He maintained offices in most major cities, each with a regional manager (in Boston, for instance, his delegate was

Billy Lang Billy Lang ''(né'' William August Leng; 28 May 1883 in Boston – 23 December 1944 in San Francisco) was a lyricist and music publisher (popular music), music publisher active in Boston from 1910 to 1930. Biography Billy Lang was born "William Alb ...

). Favored employees were rewarded with corporate largesse; in 1914, for instance, selected managers gathered in Atlantic City, where it was said that "money flowed like water." As evidence of the size of his firm, Leo Feist, Inc., was one of seven defendants named in a 1920 Sherman antitrust suit brought by the US Justice Department for controlling 80% of the music publishing business. The 7 were

Consolidated Music Corporation Consolidated Music Corporation was a short-lived American music publishing licensing company formed in early 1920 — initially by seven major music publishers, but eventually six — to handle piano roll licensing. Consolidated and the six remain ...

Irving Berlin, Inc. Bourne Co. Music Publishers is an American publisher of sheet music, and one of the largest privately held international music publishers in the world,''Billboard'', 12 Nov 2005page 61 with over three thousand titles in their catalogue. Subsidiar ...

, Leo Feist, Inc., T.B. Harms & Francis, Day & Hunter, Inc., Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc., Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, Inc., and M. Witmark & Sons, Inc. " My Blue Heaven," written by Walter Donaldson (music) in collaboration with

George Whiting George Elbridge Whiting (September 14, 1840 – October 14, 1923) was an American composer of classical music. Early life and career George Whiting was born in Holliston, Massachusetts on September 14, 1840. He founded the Beethoven Society i ...

(lyrics), became the biggest song in the history of Leo Feist, Inc. Gene Austin recorded it (

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20964), selling over five million copies, and

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, ...

plugged it in

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and in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1927. It sold over five million copies of sheet music. In 1935, five years after the death of Leo Feist,

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

acquired a controlling interest in the capital stock of Leo Feist, Inc. In 1973, MGM sold Robbins, Feist, and Miller (known as Big 3) to

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

. In 1981, MGM acquired UA and formed MGM/UA Communications Co. In 1983, MGM/UA sold its music publishing business to CBS Records. CBS then sold the print music arm, Big 3 Music, to

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

Personal life

Leopold Feist was the brother of Felix F. Feist (Jul 15, 1883 – Apr 15, 1936), a sales executive at

. His nephew was Felix Ellison Feist (Feb 28, 1910 – Sep 2, 1965), a film and television director. His great-nephew was fantasy author Raymond E. Feist. In a pseudo-secret ceremony, Feist married Bessie Meyer on June 24, 1904. They had three children: Leonard S. Feist (1911–1996), Nathan Feist (1905–1965), and Milton Feist (1907–1975). Leonard was a music publisher, copyright expert, and advocate for the music publishing industry; Nathan was a publisher and advertising executive; and Milton was a rabbi, scholar, teacher, publisher, and translator of opera.

References

External links

''Leonard Feist papers, 1901–1991,''

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Categories for Leo Feist, Inc.

: : : : : {{DEFAULTSORT:Feist, Leo Music publishers (people) 1869 births 1930 deaths