Martin Bandier is the Chairman and CEO of EMI Music Publishing, the world's largest and most successful music publishing company. He is also a director of the Board of EMI Group, plc. EMI controls the rights to more than one million song titles, from Santa Claus is Coming to Town and New York, New York to I Heard it Through the Grapevine.
Bandier began his career as General Counsel to the real estate development firm LeFrak Organization, eventually rising to Senior Vice President. In 1975, Bandier co-founded The Entertainment Company, which scored best-selling songs from Dolly Parton, Barbara Streisand and Captain and Tenille. In 1984, he co-founded SBK Entertainment and in five years acquired two of the industry's most important song collections - Combine Music, a Nashville-based music publishing company, and CBS Songs, at the time, the largest music publishing company to be acquired.
In 1989, SBK sold its music publishing interests to Thorn EMI and Bandier remained on at the newly merged company, soon becoming Chairman and CEO. Since then, Bandier has catapulted the company to new heights. In 1997, a 50% purchase of Jobete Music Co., the catalog containing classic songs of Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5 and other legendary Motown hits, took place, with a further 30% stake acquired in April of 2003.
He was also responsible for the significant copyright purchases of Filmtrax, in 1991, and Windswept Pacific, in 1999, then, one of the largest remaining independent music publishing companies in existence.
Bandier's involvement has been critical to the development and signing of Grammy-gleaning artists like Alicia Keys, Sting, Enrique Iglesias, Pink and Rob Thomas. The 2005 Grammy Awards were dominated by EMI Music Publishing artists Alicia Keys, Kanye West and Usher, with EMI artists picking up a total of 25 Grammys.
Bandier's civic commitments include membership on the boards of the United Jewish Appeal, City of Hope and the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, and he serves as a trustee of the T.J. Martell Foundation. He also serves on the board for the BMI Foundation Inc. He is director of The NMPA (National Music Publishers Association) and the Rock and Roll Hall Fame, and the president of the IMPA (International Music Publishers Association). His many industry achievements include numerous and consecutive years as Publisher of the Year, by ASCAP, BMI and Billboard Magazine.
In June of 2003, Bandier was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame as Patron of the Arts. Bandier is also a trustee of Syracuse University and a 1994 Arents Award winner. He has two daughters, and he and his wife, Dorothy, live in New York City, with their son, Max.
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