Martin Neal Bandier (born July 21, 1941) is an American music industry executive who was the CEO/Chairman of
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Sony Music Publishing LLC (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is an American music publisher. Responsible for publishing the largest quantity of music, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021, it is part of Sony ...
for 11 years from 2007 until 2019. Prior to that he was the chairman and CEO of
EMI Music Publishing Worldwide from 1991 to 2006. He was inducted into the
Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Early life and education
Bandier was born July 21, 1941, and grew up in
Queens
Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
.
He graduated from
Stuyvesant High School at 16.
At
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
he majored in political science and history and received a
B.A. in 1961. He then attended
Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a Private university, 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 adjunct faculty.
...
, 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 to form
SBK Entertainment World, Inc. and purchased the 250,000 title
CBS 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 (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), c ...
and the creation of
SBK Records.
By the end of the first year at EMI, the company was named ''
Billboard Magazine
''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...
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. A few months later he took over as head of the music publishing entity
Sony/ATV.
In 2009, he was chief executive of
Sony/ATV.
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.
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
The Bandier Program in Recording and Entertainment Industries
' at Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
.
Awards
In 1990, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[
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 is Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
. He has been married twice. He met his first wife Denise LeFrak, daughter of housing developer Samuel LeFrak, during college at Syracuse.
retrieved October 18, 2014
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bandier, Martin
1941 births
American businesspeople in real estate
20th-century American Jews
Stuyvesant High School alumni
Businesspeople from Queens, New York
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs alumni
Brooklyn Law School alumni
Living people
LeFrak family
21st-century American Jews