Private Music
| Private Music | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1984 |
| Founder | Peter Baumann |
| Defunct | 1996 |
| Status | Defunct |
| Distributor(s) | BMG |
| Genre | New age, jazz, blues |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Location | New York City, Los Angeles |
Private Music was an American independent record label founded in 1984 by musician Peter Baumann as a "home for instrumental music." Baumann signed Yanni, Suzanne Ciani, Andy Summers, Patrick O'Hearn, Leo Kottke, and his former bandmates, Tangerine Dream. The label specialized in new-age music, but made a sharp turn to the mainstream, with signings of Taj Mahal, Ringo Starr, Etta James, and A. J. Croce. Its releases were distributed by then-emerging BMG (the label's earliest recordings having been distributed by RCA), which bought Private Music in 1996.
In 1989, Baumann hired veteran music executive Ron Goldstein of Warner Bros. Records as Private Music's President & CEO. Goldstein moved the offices from New York City to Los Angeles, hiring Karen Johnson to expand the label's image. Baumann recruited the well-respected, mainstream A&R executive Jamie Cohen. Visual image was important to Goldstein who handpicked art director Melanie Penny, previously of Virgin Records and Warner Bros., as VP, Creative Services, through the life of Private Music.
Private Music emphasized its "artist re-development" efforts, supporting such eclectic veteran artists as Taj Mahal, Ringo Starr, Etta James, Jennifer Warnes, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Toots Thielemans, Jimmy Witherspoon, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Eliza Gilkyson, Joy Askew, The Pahinui Brothers, and Kenny Rankin, while expanding the catalogs of Yanni, Leo Kottke, Andy Summers, and Ravi Shankar, with strong "debut support" for A. J. Croce and Susan Werner. An international marketing department was added, led by longtime Sony Music executive JP Bommel.
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