Martin N. "Marty" Bandier (born July 21, 1941) is an American music industry executive who was the CEO/Chairman of

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...

for 11 years. Bandier studied at

Stuyvesant High School , motto_translation = For knowledge and wisdom , address = 345 Chambers Street , city = New York , state = New York , zipcode = 10282 , country ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, and

Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and a number of adjunct faculty. Brooklyn ...

. He practiced with Battle, Fowler, Jaffin and Kheel, and then became General Counsel to the LeFrak Organization. In 1991, he became chairman and CEO of

EMI Music Publishing EMI Music Publishing Ltd. is a British multinational music publishing company headquartered in London, owned by parent company Sony Corporation of America. In May 2018, Sony Music Publishing agreed to increase its stake in EMI to 90%, pendi ...

Worldwide. He was inducted into the

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...

. In 2007 he became chairman and CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

Early life and education

Bandier was born July 21, 1941, and grew up in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. He graduated from

Stuyvesant High School , motto_translation = For knowledge and wisdom , address = 345 Chambers Street , city = New York , state = New York , zipcode = 10282 , country ...

at 16. At

he met his first wife – Denise LeFrak, daughter of housing developer

Samuel LeFrak Samuel J. LeFrak (February 12, 1918 – April 16, 2003) was an American real estate tycoon. He was a noted landlord who chaired a private building firm, the LeFrak Organization, which was ranked 45th on the ''Forbes'' list of top 500 private compa ...

– and majored in political science and history and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961."Turning Music Into Dollars at Sony/ATV,"
''New York Times'' He then attended

, graduating in 1965.

Career

Following graduation from Brooklyn Law School, he joined the New York firm of Battle, Fowler, Jaffin and Kheel. In 1969, Bandier became General Counsel to the LeFrak Organization, where he rose to Senior Vice President. In 1975, he formed The Entertainment Company with Sam LeFrak and Charles Koppelman as his co-principals. In the early 1980s Bandier and Denise LeFrak divorced, and in 1984 Bandier and Koppelman dissolved their partnership with LeFrak and formed the Entertainment Music Company and the Entertainment Television Company. In 1986, the partners purchased the Combine Music Catalog. That same year, Bandier and Koppelman teamed with financier

Stephen Swid Stephen Claar Swid (October 26, 1940 – October 6, 2019) was an American businessman and investor. He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of SESAC, Inc., one of the three performing rights organizations in the US. Swid was also ...

to form

SBK Entertainment World SBK Records was a record label, owned by Universal Music Group, that was currently part of the Capitol Music Group, where it is in hibernation. The label was founded in 1988 and during its time in activity existed as part of the EMI Group. Hist ...

, Inc. and purchased the 250,000 title

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

songs catalog for the then-record price of $125 million. In 1989, Bandier helped engineer the sale of SBK's song catalog to

EMI Music EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 2012 ...

and the creation of

SBK Records SBK Records was a record label, owned by Universal Music Group, that was currently part of the Capitol Music Group, where it is in hibernation. The label was founded in 1988 and during its time in activity existed as part of the EMI Group. Hist ...

. By the end of the first year at EMI, the company was named ''

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the musi ...

s number one music publisher. In 1991, EMI Music Publishing Worldwide, then the world's largest music publisher, named Bandier – until then its vice chairman – chairman and chief executive. He was also president and chief operating officer of the SBK Records Group, a record label that EMI operated with its parent. In 2005, Bandier asked EMI to sell him its publishing unit, and when it refused he resigned in 2006. In 2006, Bandier founded a music and entertainment industry degree program at Syracuse University, and named The Bandier Program for Music and Entertainment Industries. A few months later he took over as head of the music publishing entity

Sony/ATV Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest Music publisher (popular music), music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Mu ...

. In 2009, he was chief executive of

. In 2007, Bandier assumed the position of chairman and CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing responsible for overseeing its global music publishing activities, including talent and copyright acquisitions, day-to-day operations, and the development and implementation of the company's long-term strategic initiatives.Grammy.com November 12, 2014
Press release: Pre-GRAMMY Gala To Honor Martin Bandier
/ref> In 2012, Sony/ATV Music Publishing consortium acquired EMI Music Publishing, reunited Bandier with his former company catalog he helped build. Bandier stepped down from the Chairman/CEO of the company in March 2019 and was succeeded by

Jon Platt Jon Platt is an American music-publishing executive and a former DJ. He is Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Publishing after having spent 17 years at EMI Music Publishing. Early life Although he was born in Philadelphia, Platt considers Denver ...

Philanthropy

Bandier is a member on the boards of the City of Hope, the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the NMPA, where he is Vice President of the Board of Directors. He also serves as a trustee of the T.J. Martell Foundation and Syracuse University. The GRAMMY Foundation and MusiCares Foundation, the affiliated charities of The Recording Academy, also announced that their respective Boards had elected Bandier to be a MusiCares Director. In 2006 Bandier established
The Bandier Program in Recording and Entertainment Industries
' at

. The program, initially housed at the College of Visual and Performing Arts was later moved to the

S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, commonly known as Newhouse School, is the communications and journalism school of Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. It has programs in print and broadcast journalism; music business; graphic ...

in 2017. ''Billboard'' has consistently ranked the Bandier program amongst the top music business programs in the nation.

Awards

In 1990, he was inducted into the

. In 1994, he won the Arents Award. In February 2015 he received the President's Merit Award as a Grammy Icon at the

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 19 ...

Pre Grammy Gala in Los Angeles. He was the first music publisher to receive the award. In 2017, he received a Lifetime Service Award from the National Publishers' Association. In May 2019, he was named BMI Icon at BMI's 67th Annual Pop Awards.

Personal life

Bandier has been married twice. His first wife was Denise LeFrak, daughter of housing developer

. They had two children before divorcing: Allison Bandier Koffman who married Jeffrey Koffman in a Jewish ceremony at the

Pierre Hotel The Pierre is a luxury hotel located at 2 East 61st Street, at the intersection of that street with Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan, New York City, facing Central Park. Designed by Schultze & Weaver, the hotel opened in 1930 with 100+ employees, ...

in Manhattan; and Jenifer Lee Bandier who married W.J. Diggins III in a Jewish ceremony at the

Plaza Hotel The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue, ...

in Manhattan. His second wife is Dorothy Harris. They have one son: Max Harris Bandier. The couple are members of the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County.Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County: "2012 Honor Roll
retrieved October 18, 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bandier, Martin 1941 births American real estate businesspeople 20th-century American Jews Stuyvesant High School alumni People from Queens, New York Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs alumni Brooklyn Law School alumni Living people LeFrak family 21st-century American Jews