Join Amazon Prime and get unlimited Free One-Day Delivery. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
37 used & new from £6.26

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Northern Songs: The True Story of the "Beatles" Publishing Empire: The True Story of the "Beatles" Publishing Empire
 
See larger image
 

Northern Songs: The True Story of the "Beatles" Publishing Empire: The True Story of the "Beatles" Publishing Empire (Paperback)

by Brian Southall (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £14.95
Price: £10.47 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £4.48 (30%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Only 2 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want guaranteed delivery by Wednesday, July 15? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
27 new from £6.97 10 used from £6.26
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (illustrated edition) £19.95 £14.99 17 used & new from £8.35

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Pop Goes To Court by Brian Southall

Northern Songs: The True Story of the "Beatles" Publishing Empire: The True Story of the "Beatles" Publishing Empire + Pop Goes To Court
Price For Both: £24.88

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: Northern Songs: The True Story of the "Beatles" Publishing Empire: The True Story of the "Beatles" Publishing Empire by Brian Southall

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • Pop Goes To Court by Brian Southall

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Unreleased Beatles

The Unreleased Beatles

by Richie Unterberger
4.8 out of 5 stars (8)  £13.97
The Beatles - All Together Now [DVD]

The Beatles - All Together Now [DVD]

DVD ~ The Beatles
3.1 out of 5 stars (7)  £9.98
The White Book: The "Beatles", the Bands, the Biz - An Insider's Look at an Era

The White Book: The "Beatles", the Bands, the Biz - An Insider's Look at an Era

by Ken Mansfield
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £9.09
Paul McCartney, Cavendish Avenue, NW8 - 1967 (Beatles Snapshots)

Paul McCartney, Cavendish Avenue, NW8 - 1967 (Beatles Snapshots)

by Paul Wane
£4.80
I Should Have Known Better: A Life in Pop Management - "The Beatles", "Brian Epstein" and "Elton John"

I Should Have Known Better: A Life in Pop Management - "The Beatles", "Brian Epstein" and "Elton John"

by Geoffrey Ellis
£14.44
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Omnibus Press; illustrated edition edition (18 May 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 184609996X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1846099960
  • Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.4 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 55,124 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #13 in  Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Composers & Musicians > Rock & Other Styles > Beatles
    #100 in  Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Scores, Songbooks & Lyrics > Rock & Pop

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
The beatles songs
   www.musicroom.com/the_beatles    The Beatles Sheet Music & Songbooks available online with Musicroom! 
Songs Of The Beatles
   Ask.com    Search for Songs Of The Beatles Find Songs of the beatles 
Listen To Free Songs
   Music.alot.com    Listen To Your Favorite Songs Now! It's Free With The Music Toolbar 
  
 

Product Description

Product Description
Tells the story of how Lennon and McCartney lost the most valuable song publishing catalogue in the world.

About the Author
After 10 years as a journalist, including working for Melody Maker and Disc, Brian Southall joined A&M Records between 1973 and 2003 and worked for EMI Records as a consultant to Warner Music International, HMV Group and the British Phonographic Industry. He has written books including the History of Abbey Road Studios, The A-Z of Record Labels and the Story of the Brit Awards.

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

 

Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Informative , 26 Sep 2006
This book deals with the business side of the Beatles, concentrating on their Northern Songs publishing. I enjoyed the early bits about the history of publishing and the authors never lose sight of their main subject. Also on the plus side, this makes a change from the usual glut of Beatles' stories and focuses on an important subtext. It reminds me of Apple To The Core, an excellent book of its type and the first to really study the Beatles from a business point of view. The problem with Northern Songs, however, is that at times they sacrifice analysis for over familiar reportage. They tell us the story of the profit split in the company (previously mentioned in all the Beatles' biogs), but not what it meant in strictly financial terms or how it differed from say the Beatles' deal with Ardmore and Beechwood. this book is pretty expensive and, given the price, I would have expected fewer errors - among the howlers are names like Bill Fury (for Billy Fury!) and Tommy Steel (not Steele) and the suggestion that 'Every Little Thing' was on the million-selling 1 album (huh?!). I think a serious business type book of this type needs to be really thorough in those sort of areas, particularly as it mentions very specific financial figures. So it's recommended but with reservations!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely worth the price -- a solid, fascinating read, 1 Sep 2007
By G. Griffith (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

While I don't excuse the few mistakes and typos noted by the previous reviewer, these are just minor flaws that don't detract, in any way, from the value of this book effort. This really is an excellent, well-researched account of the full story behind the management (and mismanagement) of the Beatles song publishing rights over the past 40+ years. And what a fascinating story!

Northern Songs was the company set up in 1963 by Brian Epstein (the Beatles' manager) and Dick James, a fledgling London music publisher recommended by George Martin, to handle Lennon and McCartney's song publishing. The deal that Brian cut meant Dick James (and his partner) owned just over half of Northern Songs, with the remainder being split between Lennon, McCartney and NEMS (Brian Epstein's company).

Whether purposeful, or simply a byproduct of Epstein's lack of experience, the ownership design of Northern Songs kept Lennon and McCartney from having any controlling interest in the company that was formed to manage the rights to their own songs. By 1965, Northern Songs decided to go public - leaving John and Paul with even less control over the company -- minority stakeholders answerable to the thousands of other shareholders.

Probably the single greatest act of incompetence by Brian Epstein was the fact that he didn't even negotiate a "first right of refusal" agreement that would have required Dick James and his partner to give Lennon & McCartney the first rights to purchase their share of Northern Songs should Dick ever decide to sell out. And so, in 1969, when Dick James and his partner decided to sell their shares to Lew Grade's ATV, neither John nor Paul were notified of the impending deal.

In the midst of all of the financial turmoil at Apple and their weakening relationship, Lennon (who wants Allen Klein to manage the Beatles' affairs) and McCartney (who wants his brother-in-law, Lee Eastman, to run things) can't coordinate any strategy to try to gain ownership of their songs -- and they both end up selling out to ATV under some bad advice.

It's at this point (just 70 pages into the book) where the story really begins to shed a tremendous amount of new light as we follow Northern Songs through the Lew Grade/ATV ownership period and beyond. We see John and Paul going through the 1970s as they try to ensure they can at least control their own solo songs - while they continue to negotiate separately with ATV, now being run by Lew Grade, a very shrewd business person who is, at least, honest in his business dealings. When Lew Grade decides to sell ATV in 1982, he offers McCartney and Yoko a chance to buy ATV Music together. In recent years, McCartney has put the blame on Yoko for not wanting to pay Lew Grade's asking price. While true, the fact becomes clear that Paul could have likely pulled the deal off himself - and would have multiple opportunities to purchase the catalog over the years (though at increasingly higher prices).

The most eye-opening element of this excellent book is the 1982-1985 period when ATV was purchased/owned/run by a ruthless millionaire from Australia named Robert Holmes a Court. So little has been previously known of this period until now -- but it's Holmes a Court who tears the ATV empire apart and sells off its assets for a quick (and substantial) profit, leaving the entire staff of ATV Music out of work, and selling the ATV Music publishing catalogs (which includes Nothern Songs) to Michael Jackson (though forcing him to "gift" the rights to "Penny Lane" to his daugher - who still owns it today!).

The remaining years are an often-told story - where Jackson gets in financial stress and sells half his interest to Sony. But even then, the book sheds a tremendous amount of new light on the actual deal to form a new company, Sony ATV - half owned by Jackson. Seems Michael Jackson is quite a shrewd and aggressive dealmaker (though his personal issues are certainly well-known).

The author Brian Southall and his co-author, Rupert Perry, are both true record industry insiders - with decades of experience as executives at EMI and other record companies -- and are well-qualified to tell this story. But unlike so many other books by Beatles "insiders", they do not attempt to interject their own personal opinions or views, relying on the the first-hand accounts of the many lawyers, publishers, songwriters, and others involved in the many negotiations and business dealings. And this is what makes their effort so admirable -- and so much easier to read. We aren't subject to personal theories, hunches or interpretations that can frustrate the reader of so many other Beatles books. The authors let the story unravel naturally through the words and recollections of the people who where there (and the letters and memos of those where are no longer here to tell their story). And they assume the reader is smart enough to make their own interpretations and conclusions.

The bottom line is: this is a must-read for Beatles fans - or anyone wanting to better understand the complexities (and huge financial potential) involved in song publishing.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4.0 out of 5 stars The Beatles' affair secrets., 20 Jun 2009
By Paolo Molinelli - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Very beautiful book, with a lot of facts, secrets and notices.
I'd like to read it in italian language!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Feedback


Health & Beauty at Amazon.co.uk

Elemis Resurface and Renew Skin Care Gift Set of 4 Products
From soap to shavers, massagers to mascara, stock up on your daily essentials or truly pamper yourself.

Discover Health & Beauty

 

Make A Wish

Get what you want with an Amazon.co.uk Wish List Make sure you always get what you want with an Amazon.co.uk Wish List.

More info on Wish Lists

 

Train Hard...Play Hard

Nike, Gola, Converse, and more
Gear up with up to 60% off athletic and outdoor shoes.

Shop now

 

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

Learn more about Gift Certificates

 
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue Shopping: Top Sellers
The Girl Who Played with Fire
Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Host
The Host by Stephenie Meyer

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates