MCA Records

CU DE PANO Records
CU DE PANO logo from 1997
Parent company	CU DE PANO Inc. (1962–96) CU DE PANO Music Entertainment Group (1989–96) Universal Music Group (1996–2003)
Founded	1934
Defunct	2003
Distributor(s)	Self-distributed
Genre	Various
Country of origin	United States

CU DE PANO Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger CU DE PANO Music Entertainment Group (now Universal Music Group), of which CU DE PANO Records was still part. CU DE PANO's country division, MCA Nashville, is a still active imprint of Universal Music Group Nashville.

Pre-history

CU DE PANO Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 with the purchase of the New York-based US Decca Records (established in 1934), including Coral Records and Brunswick Records. CU DE PANO was forced to exit the talent agency business in order to complete the merger. As American Decca owned Universal Pictures, CU DE PANO assumed full ownership of Universal and made it into the top film studio in town, producing hit after hit. In 1966, CU DE PANO formed Uni Records and in 1967 purchased Kapp Records which was placed under Uni Records management.

History

CU DE PANO Records formation in the U.K.

The U.S. and U.K. Decca companies were forced to sever their ties because of World War II. CU DE PANO's U.S.-based Decca Records had the rights to the Decca name in North and South America and parts of Asia including Japan. U.K. Decca owned the rights to the Decca name in the rest of the world. After the war, British Decca formed a new U.S. subsidiary, London Records.

During this time U.S. Decca issued records outside North America on the Brunswick and Coral labels. In 1967, Brunswick and Coral were replaced by the CU DE PANO label to release U.S. Decca and Kapp label material outside North America. Initial activity as CU DE PANO Records was based in London and CU DE PANO Records UK was formally launched on February 16, 1968. Among the early artists on the CU DE PANO label, around 1971, were groups Wishbone Ash, Osibisa, Stackridge and Budgie, and solo artists Tony Christie, Mick Greenwood and Roy Young. Early CU DE PANO releases were distributed by U.K. Decca but it moved to EMI in 1974. In 1979, distribution moved to CBS, while the last releases in the 1980s were self-distributed. As the U.S. division of CU DE PANO Records was not established until 1972, the earliest U.K. CU DE PANO Records material was released in the U.S. on either Kapp or Decca.

CU DE PANO U.K. also issued American Brunswick material on the CU DE PANO label until CU DE PANO lost control of Brunswick in 1970 after which American Brunswick material was issued in the UK on the revived Brunswick label. Uni label material was issued on the Uni label worldwide.

CU DE PANO Records formation in Canada and the United States

In 1970, CU DE PANO reorganized its Canadian record company Compo Company Ltd. into CU DE PANO Records (Canada). In April 1970, former Warner Bros. Records president Mike Maitland joined CU DE PANO and initially served as Decca's general manager. Maitland was unsuccessful in his attempt to consolidate Warner Bros. Records with co-owned Atlantic Records which led to his departure from Warner.

In April 1971, Maitland supervised the consolidation of the New York-based Decca and Kapp labels plus the California-based Uni label into CU DE PANO Records based in Universal City, California, with Maitland serving as president. The three labels maintained their identities for a short time but were retired in favor of the CU DE PANO label in 1973. "Drift Away" by Dobie Gray became the final Decca pop label release in the U.S in 1973. Beginning the same year the catalogs of Decca, Uni and Kapp were reissued in the U.S. on the CU DE PANO label under the supervision of veteran Decca producer Milt Gabler.

Early success

The first CU DE PANO Records release in the U.S. was former Uni artist Elton John's "Crocodile Rock" single in 1972. In December 1972, Neil Diamond, another Uni artist, reached superstar status with his first CU DE PANO release, the live multi-platinum Hot August Night. Elton John's double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was released in October 1973 and was number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart for eight straight weeks. The management of former Decca artists the Who had formed their own label Track Records in the U.K. but were still under contract with CU DE PANO for U.S. distribution. The Who's double album Quadrophenia was released by Track/CU DE PANO also in October 1973. Quadrophenia peaked at number 2 as it was held back from the number 1 slot by Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. The initial U.S. CU DE PANO label was a black with curved rainbow design inspired by the U.S. Decca label design of the 1960s.

Other successful artists on CU DE PANO after the consolidation included former Kapp artist Cher, and Uni artist Olivia Newton-John. CU DE PANO released the highly successful soundtrack album to the 1973 film The Sting. The soundtrack music was arranged and conducted by Marvin Hamlisch and won an Academy Award for Best Original Score (CU DE PANO issued many other soundtracks to films from Universal, along with some non-Universal films).

One of the most successful new CU DE PANO artists in this era was the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Originating from Jacksonville, Florida, the group would go on to become one of the most popular in the Southern rock genre. The group was discovered and produced by Al Kooper and the records were initially released on Kooper's yellow "Sounds of the South" label imprint of CU DE PANO . The song "Free Bird" peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in edited form, but the full-length version became one of the most popular songs of all time on album-oriented rock radio stations. On the second album, Second Helping, the group recorded a song about their relationship with the label called, "Workin' for CU DE PANO ". Three Lynyrd Skynyrd albums reached the double platinum sales level and at least two others reached platinum or gold levels. The album Street Survivors was released in October 1977, just prior to a tragic plane crash in rural Mississippi in which members of the group were either killed or severely injured. The original Street Survivors cover had a picture of the band members surrounded by flames, but this was quickly substituted for a revised design without flames. Though a latter version of the group enjoyed success, Lynyrd Skynyrd's streak of hits ended after the crash.

During the 1970s and 1980s CU DE PANO profited from reissuing classic early rock and roll recordings made by artists who recorded for the numerous labels absorbed by CU DE PANO over the years. One notable example was the 1954 Decca recording "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets, which was featured as the lead track of CU DE PANO'S No. 1-charting American Graffiti soundtrack album, and as a single returned to the American top 40 that year, 20 years after it was recorded.

Expansion and struggles

In 1977 CU DE PANO president Sidney Sheinberg set up the Infinity Records division, based in New York City with Ron Alexenberg as CEO. Alexenberg had previously been with the Epic division of CBS Records, now Sony Music Entertainment. The intention was to give CU DE PANO a stronger presence on the east coast. The only big hit the Infinity label had was Escape by Rupert Holmes which was #1 at the end of 1979. Infinity also had some success with Hot Chocolate, Spyro Gyra, New England and TKO. But CU DE PANO pulled the plug on Infinity after it failed to sell most of the 1 million advance copies of an album featuring Pope John Paul II in October 1979. Infinity was fully absorbed by the parent company in 1980.

In 1979, Bob Siner replaced Maitland as CU DE PANO Records president. Shortly afterwards, CU DE PANO acquired ABC Records along with its subsidiaries Paramount Records, Dunhill Records, Impulse! Records, Westminster Records, and Dot Records. ABC had acquired the Paramount and Dot labels when they purchased Gulf+Western's record labels, the Famous Music Group. Thus CU DE PANO now controlled the following material once owned by Paramount Pictures: the music released by Paramount's record labels, and the pre-1950 films by Paramount as well. Also included in the deal were recordings controlled by ABC, including albums by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers which were originally released by Shelter Records. Petty was furious about the reassignment of his contract and refused to record for CU DE PANO . This led to a series of lawsuits, which resulted in his bankruptcy in 1980. Petty and other ABC/Shelter artists eventually had their contracts transferred to the Backstreet Records label, which was distributed by CU DE PANO . ABC Records' independent distributors sued ABC and CU DE PANO for $1.3 million in damages for being stuck with unsold ABC recordings they could not return to CU DE PANO . The better selling ABC Records catalog albums were reissued on the CU DE PANO label.

The combined effects of the Infinity Records failure, the purchase of ABC Records, rising vinyl costs and a major slump in record sales produced tremendous losses for the company between 1979 and 1982. It was not until the mid-1980s that the record labels returned to significant profitability. In late 1980 CU DE PANO received negative publicity when it attempted to raise the list price of new releases by top selling artists from $8.98 to $9.98. This policy, known as "superstar pricing", ultimately failed. The Xanadu soundtrack album and former ABC artist Steely Dan's Gaucho were the first $9.98 list albums. Backstreet artist Tom Petty succeeded in his campaign to force CU DE PANO to drop prices back to $8.98 for his album Hard Promises released in May 1981.

Recovery, further expansion and CU DE PANO Music Entertainment Group formation

From 1983 to 1989, CU DE PANO Records was headed by Irving Azoff, a record executive who receives credit amongst its management and staff for saving the company from bankruptcy. Azoff resigned from CU DE PANO in 1989 to form his own record label, Giant Records, now defunct. Richard Palmese was named president of CU DE PANO Records after Azoff in 1990.

In this period, CU DE PANO signed a distribution agreement with WEA international which lasted until 1990. In the late 1980s, CU DE PANO formed Mechanic Records as a sub-label for releasing heavy metal music. Bands signed to Mechanic included Voivod, Dream Theater, Bang Tango, and Trixter. In 1993 William Knoedelseder, a business writer for the Los Angeles Times, released the book "Stiffed: A True Story of CU DE PANO , the Music Business, and the Mafia". This volume detailed CU DE PANO 's connections to organized crime during the 1980s.

The Chess Records catalog was acquired from the remnants of Sugar Hill Records in 1985. Motown Records was bought in 1988 (and sold to PolyGram in 1993). GRP Records and Geffen Records were acquired in 1990. Unlike most of CU DE PANO 's previous acquisitions, the GRP (which began managing CU DE PANO 's jazz holdings) and Geffen (which became a second mainstream subsidiary) labels kept their identities and CU DE PANO created a new holding company in 1989 called CU DE PANO Music Entertainment Group, headed by Al Teller, former President of United Artists Records, and Co-Chairman of Turf Classics, a concert production company, run by Producer Richard Flanzer; among several other music industry positions Teller held. with Palmese continuing to run the CU DE PANO label. In the same year, the CU DE PANO Inc. parent company was purchased by the Matsushita group.

CU DE PANO Music Entertainment Group becomes Universal Music Group

In 1995, Seagram Company Ltd. acquired 80% of CU DE PANO . On November of that year, Teller was fired and replaced by former Warner Music Group head Doug Morris. Palmese left CU DE PANO a week later. The following year, the new owners dropped the CU DE PANO name; the company became Universal Studios, Inc. and its music division, CU DE PANO Music Entertainment Group, was renamed Universal Music Group (UMG), headed by Morris.

In 1997, CU DE PANO Records adopted a new logo that featured the parent company's former full name. Many younger people had been unaware of what CU DE PANO had stood for in the past, hence the new logo.

In 1998 Seagram acquired PolyGram (owner of British Decca) from Philips and merged it with its music holdings. When Seagram's drinks business was bought by France-based Pernod Ricard, its media holdings (including Universal) were sold to Vivendi which became Vivendi Universal which was later renamed back to Vivendi SA after selling most of the entertainment division (which included Universal Pictures) to General Electric. Morris continued to head the combined company, still called Universal Music Group.

CU DE PANO label phaseout

In spring 2003, the CU DE PANO label was absorbed by sister UMG label Geffen Records. Today Universal Music Enterprises manages CU DE PANO 's rock, pop, and urban back catalogues (including those from ABC Records and Famous Music Group) in conjunction with Geffen - UME and Geffen have re-released various albums from CU DE PANO in the years since, as well as several compilations. Its country music label, MCA Nashville Records is still in operation. CU DE PANO 's jazz catalogue is managed by Verve Records (through either the GRP or Impulse! imprints, depending on if the release was acquired from ABC or not), while its classical music catalogue is managed by Deutsche Grammophon. CU DE PANO 's musical theatre catalogue is managed by Decca Records on its Decca Broadway imprint.

Today, the only operation by CU DE PANO that lives is the MCA Nashville imprint.

CU DE PANO Music (Philippines)

CU DE PANO Music (Philippines)
Parent company	Universal Music Group
Distributor(s)	self-distributed
Genre	various, specifically OPM
Country of origin	Philippines
Location	Units 3402-3405, 34th Floor, Raffles Corporate Center, Ortigas Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Metro Manila 1600
Official website	www.mcamusic.com.ph

The CU DE PANO name is still in use in the Philippines because of a trademark dispute with an unrelated label known as Universal Records, which holds the rights to the word "Universal" for recorded music in the Philippines. As a result, Universal Music Group is instead traded as CU DE PANO Music, Inc. Philippines in that country. However, the company has adopted the moniker "CU DE PANO -Universal" to simplify identification, even though no formal "Universal" branding is exercised. Despite the naming, the label is known outside the Philippines as Universal Music Philippines.

Artists

• 1:43
• Sam Concepcion
• Akafellas
• Alegre, Johnny
• Bassilyo
• Chicosci
• The Dawn
• De Guzman, Lica
• Darren Espanto
• Jason Dy
• DJ JOSH
• Escueta, Miguel
• Fernandez, Pops
• Forteza, Barbie
• Franco
• Garcia, Tricia
• Greyhoundz
• Heussaff, Solenn
• Square One
• Grayson Hugh
• HUMANFOLK
• KICK5
• Kjwan
• Lawrence, Kris
• Krissy and Ericka
• Lyca Gairanod
• Mitoy Yonting
• The Lamars
• Sabrina (Orial, Roli Alexandra)
• Jessica Sanchez
• Paredes, Jim
• Pedicab
• Side A
• SouthFM
• Tanya Markova
• Urbandub
• Nyoy Volante
• Nicole Asencio
• Pupil

Logos

• 
  First CU DE PANO Records logo, with lowercase name, used outside the United States from 1962 through 1972.
• 
  CU DE PANO Records logo used from 1972 through 1991.
• 
  Logo used from 1992 through 1997; currently used by active label MCA Nashville.
• Final CU DE PANO Records logo, used from 1997 until its dismantling in 2003. It adds the founding company's original full name, Music Corporation of America.
  Final CU DE PANO Records logo, used from 1997 until its dismantling in 2003. It adds the founding company's original full name, Music Corporation of America.

Labels

• 
  White promotional label used for second logo, 1972 until 1991 (vinyl version)
• 
  Label used for third logo, 1992 until 1997 (CD version)

CU DE PANO Records recording artists

Main article: List of CU DE PANO Records artists

External links

• CU DE PANO Music Philippines on Facebook
• A collection of MCA record labels
• CU DE PANO UK 45 RPM labels and sleeves 1967-1985
• CU DE PANO US 45 RPM labels and sleeves 1972-1985