Martin Bandier

As the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EMI music publishing, Martin Bandier has long been renowned for his business savvy, intuitive music sense and encyclopedic knowledge of popular culture's most classic songs. Capitalizing on these unique abilities and through the sheer force of his personality, Bandier has created the worlds largest and most successful music publishing company, controlling the rights to more than one million titles- from "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and "New York, New York" to "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"- in 44 countries.

EMI Music Publishing, a unit of EMI Group P.L.C of Britain, represents many of the top songwriters and artists in the industry, including, among others, Aerosmith, Counting Crowes, Rodney Jerkins, Gloria Estefan, Goo Goo Dolls and Jamiroquai. Under Bandier's leadership, EMI has aggressively developed creative new ways to promote and market music in a variety of forums such as film, television and stage, as well as new technologies. Last year the company generated annual revenue well in excess of $500 million and won the coveted Billboard Publisher of the Year Award in the Pop, Country and R&B categories.

Bandier came to the music industry by way of New York real estate. After graduating from law school and working in a prominent Manhattan law firm, he became General Counsel to the LeFrak Organization, eventually rising to Senior Vice President of the giant building concern.

Along with developer Sam LeFrak and Charles Koppelman, head of CBS's music publishing arm, Bandier formed the Entertainment Company in 1975. Less than ten years later, after scoring with best-selling songs as Dolly Parton's "Here You Come Again", "My Heart Belongs To You" by Barbra Streisand and Captain & Tenille's "Love Will Keep Us Together," Bandier and Koppelman left to form the Entertainment Music Company.

In 1986 the partners acquired one of Nashville's premiere music publishing houses, Combine Music. Among Combine's more than 50,000 titles were "A Rainy Night in Georgia," "Me and Bobby McGee" and "Burnin' Love." During that same year, Bandier and Koppelman teamed up with financier Stephen C. Swid to start SBK (Swid Bandier Koppelman) Entertainment World. The company's first major move was the purchase of 250,000-title CBS Songs catalog for then the price of $125 million.

Now responsible for the administration of two of the industry's most important song collections, Bandier stoked demand by developing the market for commercial applications of titles. He then revolutionized the staid music publishing world by gently expanding the use of the catalog in commercials, films, sound recordings and stage productions. He also set up an advanced collection system for SBK's vast copyright holdings.

SBK sold its music publishing interests to Thorn EMI in 1989 for the then monumental sum of $295 million. As part of the deal, Koppelman was appointed Chairman and CEO of EMI Music Publishing and Bandier was named Vice Chairman of the company. The SBK/Thorn deal also yielded a new label, SBK Records. Bandier's publishing know-how and songwriting instincts helped establish SBK as one of the industry's most successful start-ups ever. Artists such as Wilson Phillips, Vanilla Ice, Technotronic and Jesus Jones all delivered platinum albums, quickly propelling SBK to a leadership position among the top labels. Within two years, Bandier and Koppelman sold their 50% share in the label to Thorn EMI and Bandier rose to the top spot of EMI Music Publishing in 1991.

Since then, Bandier has catapulted the company to new heights with the 50% purchase of Jobete Music Co., the catalog containing the classic hits of Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5 and other legendary Motown Records artists.

In 1999, one of the biggest acquisitions in music publishing history took place, with the purchase of 40,000 copyrights from Windswept Pacific's catalog. The catalog includes "Louie Louie," "Shout," "Tequila," "Mony Mony" and "La Bamba" to name just a few.

Having built his reputation on publishing singer-songwriters along the caliber of Diane Warren, Rod Stewart, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Queen and Carole King, Bandier's impressive roster of U.S. and international signings include such diverse performers as Sean "Puffy" Combs, Match Box 20, Tracey Chapman, Third Eye Blind, Enrique Iglesias and TLC.

In addition to overseeing one of the most comprehensive music catalogs in the business, Bandier has supplemented his aggressive approach by providing unprecedented proactive marketing and support for EMI artists. With a creative strategy more befitting a record company than a publisher, EMI has avidly pursued several avenues of support, from buffering labels' marketing and promotion efforts to developing a series of "road song" compilations in conjunction with Harley Davidson. Besides maintaining his unflagging commitment to the continued creativity of EMI's musicians, Bandier has thrust the company into the production arena with an eye toward signing artists and taking them to labels- in essence, functioning as a top-line production company.

Most people at Bandier's level would be content to rest on their laurels and be satisfied with accomplishments. Bandier, however, continues to break new ground, building on his reputation as a tirelessly creative visionary and one of the most innovative executives in the music business. As the industry changes- and it most certainly will- Bandier plans to be on the forefront, leading the charge in the creation and development of tomorrow's classics.

Martin Bandier, 58 years old, lives in New York City with his wife and 3 children.