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Northern Songs was a limited company founded in 1963, by music publisher Dick James, Brian Epstein, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, to publish songs written by Lennon and McCartney, as well as songs written by George Harrison and Ringo Starr, who were all members of the Beatles. Their producer, George Martin, was offered a stake in the company but turned it down, as he believed that his position at EMI made it a potential conflict of interest. In 1965, it was decided to make Northern Songs a public company, to save on capital gains tax. After Epstein died in 1967, Lennon and McCartney sought to renegotiate their publishing deal with James, but early in 1969 James and his partner sold their shares in Northern Songs to Britain's Associated Television (ATV), giving no warning to the four Beatles and their record company, Apple Corps. Lennon and McCartney attempted to gain ownership of the publishing rights, but their bid to gain control failed, as the financial power of Lew Grade ensured that Northern Songs passed into the control of ATV. Allen Klein (then ''de facto'' Beatles' manager) attempted to set up a deal for Apple Corps to buy out ATV, but this also failed. McCartney once informed Michael Jackson about the financial value of music publishing, as Jackson had enquired about the process of acquiring songs and how songs were used. According to McCartney, Jackson then said, "I'm going to get yours (songs )".〔 Northern Songs was later purchased by Jackson, although both McCartney and Yoko Ono, Lennon's widow, were notified of the sale, but did not bid themselves. Jackson later merged his published catalogue with Sony Corporation of America's to form Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Northern Songs was dissolved in 1995 after the merger, and is now a part of Sony/ATV Music Publishing. ==Early history and foundation== As George Martin felt EMI's Ardmore & Beechwood publishing company had done almost nothing to promote "Love Me Do", Martin advised Epstein to find a good publisher, telling him about three publishers who, in Martin's opinion, would be fair and honest, which led Epstein to James. Epstein turned up at James' office with an acetate of "Please Please Me", but was reluctant to let James publish it without any proof of his publishing power. James immediately picked up the phone and called Philip Jones, the producer of the prestigious TV show, ''Thank Your Lucky Stars'', playing him the acetate over the phone, and saying the song was "a guaranteed future hit". Jones agreed, and promised a spot on the show. Epstein, suitably amazed at the speed of the booking, decided that James was a man he could trust. On 22 February 1963, James suggested to Epstein that forming a company with Lennon, McCartney and Epstein would accrue more money in the long run. Lennon and McCartney thought they would own the whole company, but were given 20 shares each, Epstein 10 shares, and James and his partner, Charles Silver, 50. The company's shares were to be owned for a period of 10 years, which controlled the copyrights of 56 songs, and stipulated that a minimum of six new songs by Lennon and McCartney were to be written each year. Another company, Maclen Music—which published Lennon and McCartney's music in the US—was also controlled by Northern Songs. Both Northern Songs and Maclen Music were administered by Dick James Music. Northern Songs also published Harrison's early compositions, as well as Starr's. McCartney later explained that they signed all the contracts Epstein presented to them without reading them first, with Lennon adding, "We had complete faith in him () when he was running us. To us, he was the expert". James offered producer Martin shares as well, but he turned them down, saying it might well be unethical as he worked for EMI. The monies gathered by Northern Songs were channelled into a second company, Lenmac Enterprises; owned by Lennon and McCartney (40% each) and NEMS (North End Music Stores) 20%. The company would collect profits from the UK only. During 1965 it was decided to make Northern Songs a public company to save on capital gains tax. 1,250,000 shares were traded on the London Stock Exchange, which were worth 17 pence each ($0.28), but were offered at 66 pence ($1.09) each. Although the trade was scoffed at by various financial institutions, it was expected that the application lists would not remain open for more than 60 seconds, which is exactly what happened, as the lists were oversubscribed. After the offer was closed, Lennon and McCartney owned 15% each, worth £195,200 ($320,000), NEMS a 7.5% interest, and James and Silver (who served as Northern Songs' chairmen), controlling 37.5%, with Harrison and Starr sharing 1.6%. The remaining shares were owned by various financial institutions. At the same time, Lennon and McCartney renewed their previous three-year publishing contracts, binding them to Northern Songs until 1973. Harrison also signed with the company in 1965, for a period of three years. To protect his interests, James took out a life insurance policy of £500,000 on Lennon and McCartney. By the summer of 1966, 88 songs by Lennon and McCartney had been recorded and released, amounting to 2,900 versions by different artists. Harrison founded his own publishing company, Mornyork Ltd. in September 1964, and had its name changed to Harrisongs by December of that year. Sing Song Ltd. was used for a brief time, and Ringo Starr formed a publishing company called Startling Music. Harrison wrote "Only a Northern Song", which was to appear on the album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. The lyrics express his disappointment with his publishing contract and with the company's handling of his songs. The song was left off the album, but later appeared in the 1968 film ''Yellow Submarine'' and its soundtrack. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Northern Songs」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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