Acuff rose

Acuff-Rose Music Publishing is a leading American music publisher that primarily markets country music .

The company was founded in October 1942 by country singer Roy Acuff and songwriter Fred Rose . The driving force was Acuff, who recognized the market potential of country songs, but did not trust himself to go it alone without an experienced partner.

Acuff-Rose Music was the first music publisher to set up shop in Nashville . His role in Nashville's rise to the center of country music can hardly be overestimated. In the mid-1940s he also made a significant contribution to the survival of the collecting society BMI and to the break of the ASCAP monopoly (the establishment of Acuff-Rose was financially supported by the BMI).

Initially, the song inventory composed by Acuff and Rose was the sole basis of the new foundation. Business was so good, however, that in 1945 Fred's son Wesley Rose was hired to do the bookkeeping. In 1946 a highly talented songwriter named Hank Williams approached the two Roses. He was signed a little later and soon rose to become a superstar. The greatest commercial success came in 1950, when the Tennessee Waltz, composed by Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart and interpreted by Patti Page , sold over five million records and received corresponding royalties. With Hickory Records their own label was founded, which existed until the late 1970s.

Over the years, the song inventory has grown to more than 20,000 titles. Many of the greatest country music songwriters worked for Acuff-Rose. Wesley-Rose, who took over the management after the death of his father in 1954, rose to become the most powerful man in the Musicrow. In 1985, Acuff-Rose Music was bought by the Opryland Music Group and finally taken over by Sony in 2002.

In 1994 the music publisher hit the headlines when Campbell v. Acuff-Rose the US Supreme Court made a decision of principle (to the disadvantage of Acuff-Rose) according to which the parodic performance of a song (in this case Pretty Woman ) can be considered " fair use " and therefore no royalties to the rights holders of the song are to be discharged.