RMM Records, also known as RMM Records & Video Corp, was an independent

Latin music Latin music ( Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Spain and Portugal) and the Latino United States inspired by Latin Amer ...

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 Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz ...

Celia Cruz Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a naturalized Cuban-American singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during ...

, and

Ray Barretto Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as La ...

. Artists who recorded for the label included Tito Puente, Celia Cruz,

Tito Nieves Humberto "Tito" Nieves (born June 4, 1959; also known "El Pavarotti de la Salsa") is a Puerto Rican musician who became one of the leading salsa singers of the 1980s and the early 1990s. Born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, and raised in the Unite ...

Oscar D'Leon Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

, Eddie Palmieri,

Cheo Feliciano Cheo Feliciano (3 July 1935 – 17 April 2014) was a Puerto Rican singer and composer of salsa and bolero music. Feliciano was the owner of a recording company called "Coche Records". He was the first tropical singer to perform at the "Amira de ...

, Ismael Miranda,

José Alberto "El Canario" José Alberto Justiniano (born December 22, 1959, in Villa Consuelo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), better known by his stage name José Alberto "El Canario", is a salsa singer from the Dominican Republic. José Alberto moved to Puerto R ...

, Tony Vega,

Johnny Rivera Johnny Rivera is an American salsa music, salsa singer of Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican descent. Rivera was born in the Bronx, NY, and attended high school at Benjamin Franklin High School (New York City), Benjamin Franklin High School. He moved ...

Ray Sepúlveda Ray Sepúlveda is a salsa singer born in Brooklyn, New York. He recorded three albums with Orquestra Sociedad 76 in the late 1970s and two albums with Johnny & Ray in the late 1980s before launching a solo career in the 1990s. Sepúlveda grew up ...

Domingo Quiñones Domingo Quiñones is a singer of salsa music. He is also a composer, producer and actor. Domingo Quinones was born on August 9, 1963, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. When he was four years old he moved to Puerto Rico with his parents and lived in Ce ...

Miles Peña Miles Peña (born José Antonio Peña) is a Cuban salsa musician. Peña was a child actor, appearing in '' Los Arifices'' when he was eight years old. He studied at the Amdeo Rodán Music Academy and then moved to the Dominican Republic. In 1993 ...

, Orquesta Guayacan, Conjunto Clasico, Manny Manuel, the New York Band,

Marc Anthony Marco Antonio Muñiz Rivera (born September 16, 1968), known professionally as Marc Anthony, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is the top selling tropical salsa artist of all time. A three-time Grammy Award and six-time Latin Gr ...

La India Linda Viera Caballero (born March 9, 1969), better known 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 Awa ...

. Record producers included

Sergio George Sergio George (born May 23, 1961) 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 ...

Isidro Infante Isidro is a given name. Notable people with the name include: Saints *Saint Isidore the Laborer (c. 1070 – died 1130), the patron saint of farmers of Madrid (Spain) and La Ceiba (Honduras) *Saint Isidore of Seville (c. 560 – died 636), schola ...

, and

Humberto Ramirez Humberto is a Portuguese and Spanish masculine given name of Germanic origin. It may refer to: *Humberto Aguilar Coronado *Humberto Ak'ab'al * Humberto Albiñana * Humberto Albornoz * Humberto Alonso Morelli * Humberto Alonso Razo * Humberto Andrad ...

Empire and legacy

RMM filed for bankruptcy in November 2000, selling its assets to

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. According to the

NY Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, unpaid royalties, as well as a lawsuit settlement of $7.7 million to

Glenn Monroig Glenn Monroig (born April 22, 1957), is a Puerto Rican composer, guitarist, and singer of various types of music styles, such as salsa, boleros and rumba. He is credited with having recorded the first rap song in Spanish. Biography Early years ...

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.

Founder and key staff

* Ralph Mercado Jr. (September 29, 1941 – March 10, 2009) was born in Brooklyn to a Puerto Rican mother and Dominican father. He entered the music business as a teenager, organizing parties and dances as president of a neighborhood social club. In the 1960s, he promoted R & B and soul artists like

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the hono ...

and paired them with Latin artists like Mongo Santamaria. In the 1980s-1990s, Mercado was a promoter of

Latin Jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, which ...

Latin rock Latin rock is a term to describe a subgenre blending traditional sounds and elements of Latin American and Hispanic Caribbean folk with rock music. However, it is widely used in the English-language media to refer any kind of rock music featurin ...

, Merengue and

Salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: A ...

. He established a network of businesses that promoted concerts, managed artists, and led to the foundation of the record label Ritmo Mundo Musical (RMM). Following the bankruptcy of RMM in 2000, Ralph Mercado returned to artist promotion. * Debra A. Mercado, starting in the early 1990s, was RMM's National Director of Publicity, as well as overseeing international promotions generated by RMM International. She also was in charge of public relations for four other enterprises: RMM (Management), Ralph Mercado Presents, Caribbean Waves Music (ASCAP), and Crossing Borders Music Inc. (BMI). * Damaris L Mercado, started her production career with her father while in her teens. She moved up the ranks from Production Assistant on concerts and music video projects traveling to different cities and countries and landing in Miami. There she worked out of the RMM Records office based in the Sony Discos headquarters as Manager of Production & Manufacturing eventually making her way back to New York City during the transition to Universal Music and culminating her position as Director of Global Production & Manufacturing. *George Nenadich, who has been with Sirius XM Radio on the Caliente channel for the last 11 years as host of the very popular classic salsa program "Salsa Nation" on Caliente, every Saturday morning at 10:00am EST, as well as Rumbon (a 24Hour classic salsa channel launched by George Nenadich with the program La Jungla de Rumbon every Friday night at 7pm EST), became part of RMM Records in November 1988 as Promotions Director. One of the first employees of the label along with Martha Cancel (who was there prior and managed the everyday operations of the label at that time, including promotions).

Familiar recordings

*'' Combinación Perfecta'' 1993 *''

Tropical Tribute to The Beatles ''Tropical Tribute to the Beatles'' is a tribute album of tropical artists released in 1996 by RMM Records (Ralph Mercado's record company), produced by Oscar Gomez (distributed by Bellaphon & Uni Distribution). Arrangements were made by Stev ...

'' 1996 *'' Recordando a Selena'' 1996 *'' En Vivo'' 1994 (recorded at Miami Arena, July 1993) *'' European Explosion'' 1996 (recorded at Cannes, February 1995)

Artists

* Tony Vega * Van Lester *

* Jesús Enríquez * Guianko (also known as Yanko) *

Louie Ramirez Louie Ramirez (February 24, 1938 – June 7, 1993) was an American boogaloo, salsa and latin jazz percussionist, vibraphonist, band leader and composer. He co-wrote with Johnny Pacheco the 1961 hit "El Güiro De Macorina". He has been called "the ...

* Ray De La Paz * 3-2 Get Funky *

* Humberto Ramírez *

* Vanessa * Isidro Infante & La Elite *

* Giovanny Hidalgo *

Orquesta de la Luz is a Japanese salsa band that was formed in 1984, and began performing and recording in 1989. The band sings in Spanish and is led by vocalist Nora Shoji, who returned to traditional salsa after the band broke up in the mid-1990s. It became w ...

(Co-Distributed by BMG Victor Japan) * Pete "El Conde" Rodríguez * Guayacán Orquesta *

Michael Stuart Michael Stuart (born January 13, 1975) is an American salsa singer, songwriter and actor. Early years Stuart was born in New York City, to Puerto Rican parents who settled in the 1960s after moving from Puerto Rico. There Stuart received h ...

* Ismael Miranda * Antonio Cartagena * Corinne * Kevin Ceballo *

Oscar D'León Oscar Emilio León Somoza (born July 11, 1943), known as Oscar D'León, and affectionately called ''The Pharaoh of Salsa'', ''The Lion of Salsa'', and the ''World's Sonero'', is a Venezuelan musician best known for his work with salsa music. He ...

* Luis Perico Ortíz *

* Manny Manuel * Frankie Morales *

* Los Hermanos Moreno * Ray Perdomo * Grupo Caneo * Eddie Palmieri * The New York Band * Johnny Almendra & Los Jovenes del Barrio * Robert Avellanet * Lisandro Mesa * Descarga Boricua * Limi-T 21 * Matecaña Orquesta * Fernando Echavarría y La familia André * Sin Limite * Willy Rivera * Charlie Sepulveda * Rubén Sierra * Yorman * Yari Moré * Jerry Galante *

Issac Delgado Issac Delgado (born Isaac Felipe Delgado-Ramirez on April 11, 1962 in Marianao, Habana, Cuba) is one of the founders of the band NG La Banda and is a popular salsa and timba performer. Early life and family His father, Luis Delgado, was a ta ...

Dave Valentin David Peter Valentin (April 29, 1952 – March 8, 2017) was an American Latin jazz flautist of Puerto Rican descent. Life and career Valentin was born to Puerto Rican parents in The Bronx in New York City. He attended The High School of Mu ...

* Chamy Solano * Grupo Raíces * Puerto Rico All Stars * Aramis Camilo * Marcos Caminero * Monchy * Ravel *

Cuco Valoy Cuco Valoy (born January 6, 1937, in Manoguayabo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican Republic singer, songwriter, percussionist and guitarist, who is versatile in salsa, son montuno, guaracha The guaracha () is a genre of music ...

* Mickey Perfecto * Jandy Feliz * Tres Equis * Aníbal Bravo * Vivanativa * La Misma Gente * Paymasi * César Flores * July Mateo "Rasputín" * Los Nietos y Sergio Hernández * Aleo * Wichy Camacho * Angelito Villalona * Grupo Heavy * Alberto Barros * Henry Rosario *

Michel Camilo Michel Camilo (born April 4, 1954) is a Grammy-award winning pianist and composer from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He specializes in jazz, Latin and classical piano work. Camilo lists some of his main influences as Chick Corea, Keith Ja ...

* Deddie Romero * Jerry Medina * Raul Paz *

Hilton Ruiz Hilton Ruiz (May 29, 1952 – June 6, 2006) was an American jazz pianist in the Afro-Cuban jazz mold, but was also a talented bebop player. He was of Puerto Rican descent. Biography Born in New York City, Ruiz began playing piano at the age of ...

* Fausto Rey * Antonio Cabán Vale "El Topo" * K'stalia y Los Salchichas * He'Pepo * Cali Alemán * Aleo * Checo Acosta * Alto Voltaje * Andrés Mercedes * Azucarado * Lucecita Benítez * Celinés * Cherito *

Chrissy Chrissy is a given name or nickname for males and females, short for Christina, Chris, Christian, Christine, Christmas, or Charisma, that may refer to: People with given name Female * Chrissy Amphlett (1959–2013), Australian musician * Chriss ...

* Conexión Salsera * El Combo Show * Bobby Cruz * Paquito D’Rivera * DJ Karlos * Freddie Gerardo * Pancho Gómez * Grupo ABC * Grupo Mandarina * José Octavio * La Artillería * La Orquesta Joven * Latino Man * Los Bravos * Jesse Márquez *

Luisito Martí Luisito Marti (born Luis Bernardo Marte Hernández; 1945–2010) was a Dominican musician, comedian, actor, producer and television host. Career He began his artistic career as a conga player in Johnny Ventura's "Combo Show", later becoming a vo ...

* Johan Minaya * Glen Monroig * Nettai Tropical Jazz Big Band *

José Nogueras José Nogueras (born 1951, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico) is a composer, music producer, singer, guitarist, and performer of modern-day Puerto Rican music. Early Years At the age of eight, he came to reside in the city of Río Piedras, during his s ...

* Nora * Orchestra 7 * Mickey Perfecto * Millie Puente * Sandy Reyes * Roc & Kato * Kike Santana * Super Cuban All Stars * José Manuel Taveras * Juan Pablo Torres * Charlie Valens * Wellington * Yolanda Duke * Familia RMM * TropiJazz All-Stars *

Labels

SOHO Latino
* Sonero Discos * RMM International * TropiJazz * Merengazo * RMM Rocks

References