Bertram Feldman (29 September 1874 – 25 March 1945) was a British music publisher whose innovations "forged the foundations of a commercial music industry in Britain".

Biography

Feldman was born in

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

, the son of a piano maker and music shop owner. In 1895, he went to London and set up in business as a song plugger, the first in the country, buying new songs cheaply from their writers and then aggressively promoting their

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...

sales. Lucas Campbell, "The Lost History of Feldman's Arcade...", 15 July 2014
Retrieved 23 April 2017 His business expanded when he began acquiring the publishing rights to American songs, particularly after visiting New York City in 1907. The songs he purchased included " Alexander's Ragtime Band", " Down at the Old Bull and Bush", " Teddy Bears' Picnic", and (for 5

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...

s) " It's a Long Way to Tipperary", all of which became very popular in Britain. Feldman helped establish Irving Berlin's international reputation, by featuring his songs in his annual song books. Jeffrey Magee, ''Irving Berlin's American Musical Theater'', Oxford University Press, 2012, p.4
/ref> Around 1909, Feldman established his own publishing company in what became known as Feldman's Arcade in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, later moving it to London. His business continued to expand until his death, his later successes including "

The White Cliffs of Dover The White Cliffs of Dover is the region of English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliff face, which reaches a height of , owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint, deposi ...

". Nick Boldock, "People: Bertram Feldman", ''Hull Music Archive'', 17 April 2016
Retrieved 23 April 2017 He died in Blackpool in 1945. His business was sold after his death to the publishing firm of

Francis Day & Hunter Francis, Day & Hunter is a British music publishing company, one of the leading publishers of music hall songs and popular music in the late 19th and 20th centuries. It was established in London in 1877 as W. & J. Francis and Day, later Francis B ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feldman, Bert 1874 births 1945 deaths Music publishing companies of the United Kingdom Businesspeople from Kingston upon Hull