Doug Morris

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Doug Morris (2010)

Doug Morris (born November 23, 1938 in New York , United States ) is an executive in the US music industry. He worked his way up from songwriter to chief executive officer .

Life

Morris is the son of a lawyer and a ballet teacher , whereby the chronically ill father was not the provider of the family, to which an older brother belonged, but the mother. The family lived on Long Island . He graduated from Columbia University with a degree in economics in 1960 and then served two years in the US Army as a military policeman . In civil life he began to write songs, which he also sang himself at first. In retrospect, he describes himself as “a kind of cross between Neil Sedaka and Bobby Darin ”. He finally found an artist in Lou Levy who hired him as a permanent composer for $ 50 a week. He served his idol Bert Berns , who composed Hang On Sloopy and Twist and Shout , as an errand boy and student. Berns encouraged Morris to continue and allowed him to offer his own compositions when he ran errands to the record companies . Improved over time, he was then instrumental in the top 10 title Sweet Talkin 'Guy by the Chiffons (1966).

In 1970 he founded the Big Tree Records label. Smokin 'in the Boys' Room was a smash hit for Brownsville Station in 1973, with Mötley Crüe having her first hit in 1985 . In 1975 Morris Hot Chocolate helped her final breakthrough with You Sexy Thing after her worldwide success with Emma . In 1978, Morris decided to give in to Atlantic Records' offer to buy, eyed and sought after by the competition . As a partner of Atlantic co-founder Ahmet Ertegün , he got to know the finesse of the industry. In 1978 he was appointed president of the ATCO sub-label, from where he moved to the main label in the same position in 1980. He successfully used the tactic of entanglement acquired by Ertegün by first taking care of Stevie Nicks during the recordings of her first solo album and the end product later, after a good, but not optimal chart, with the help of culinary spoiled Billboard editors in first place US charts heaved. In 1990, as Co- Chairman and Co-CEO at Ertegün's side , he reached the top of the parent company, the Atlantic Group, which stands above all labels. He immediately founded a new label (together with Sylvia Rhone): Eastwest Records . This was followed by a repertoire rejuvenation, carried out through a joint venture with the Interscope label , which was home to such controversial but also innovative artists as Tupac , Snoop Dogg , Dr. Dre , Limp Bizkit , Nine Inch Nails, and Marilyn Manson . Because of the complex organizational structures within the music industry, Morris' post was still not the last step in the hierarchy. The Atlantic family ("Atlantic Division") belonged namely to the global media giant Time Warner , in whose leadership he was finally accepted in 1994, responsible for the US market. He was released in 1995, either because of rampant protests against rap albums that glorified violence and degrading women, or because of internal power struggles, or a combination of both. According to unofficial information, he received a package of shares worth around US $ 100 million as a severance payment.

A few days later, he took over the functions as Chairman and CEO again, this time at the ailing company Universal Music , which was part of the Seagram conglomerate. At his urging, Seagram recruited Time Warner from the associated label Interscope in 1996, which caused a chart sensation two months later. Restructuring in the winter of 1998/99, triggered by the merger with Polygram , did not change anything in his position as head of a worldwide corporate conglomerate. Morris paid too little attention to Napster , but revised his conservative view of music distribution and showed himself to be open to the iPod and even pushed the founding of the online music video service provider Vevo . In 2010, he was offered retirement because he refused and his powers were curtailed. In 2011 he moved to Sony Music Entertainment , where he has held the usual position of CEO ever since. In 2015, Morris, in cooperation with Apple, brought up a streaming service called Apple Beats in competition with Spotify .

Doug Morris is widely respected by colleagues and musicians in the music industry. He received a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood on January 26, 2010 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Randall Roberts: Doug Morris. Executive. In: latimes.com. June 29, 2010, accessed January 13, 2015 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Jodi Summers: "The music industry is like a basketball team". Doug Morris on the ups and downs of his career . In: MusikWoche . The news magazine for the music industry. No. 25/1999 , June 21, 1999, Interview of the Week, p. 8th f .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Devin Leonard: Sony Music CEO Doug Morris is Streaming Big. In: bloomberg.com. February 7, 2013, accessed January 13, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Alexander Trust: Sony Music: Apple introduces music streaming service tomorrow. In: machnotes.de. June 7, 2015, accessed January 13, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Andreas Donath: Doug Morris: Sony Music boss confirms Apple's music streaming service in advance. In: golem.de. June 8, 2015, accessed January 13, 2015 .
  6. ^ Doug Morris Honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In: zimbio.com. Retrieved January 13, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Morris, Doug
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American music manager
DATE OF BIRTH November 23, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH New York , United States