Biography
KPM Musichouse is a company which provides library music, formed by the merger of KPM (a division of EMI) and Musichouse (a company which EMI acquired in 1997).
KPM music has been used in many films and television programs worldwide. KPM's origins lie in Robert Keith's music shop which was set up in 1780 [http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/soundson/librarian.php].
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The music written by KPM's composers was intended for use as signature tunes or incidental music in film and television [http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/aug/29/electronicmusic]. Notable examples include the theme tunes for Mastermind, News At Ten and Whicker's World.
History
The origins of KPM go back to 1780 when the instrument maker, Robert Keith, set up shop in London's Rathbone Place. By 1830 the business had expanded into music publishing and a partnership formed with William Prowse.
After the turn of the century retail outlets were opened selling theatre tickets, instruments, music and eventually records.
In 1955, with the advent of commercial television in the UK, the music publishing department became a separate company and was acquired by Rediffusion. The following year saw the setting up of the original KP library under the management of Patrick Howgill. The first twenty-five 78 rpm records were recorded with a budget of £5,000.
In 1959 the library merged with Peter Maurice Publishing to form the new KPM Music Group.
In 1965 Robin Phillips launched the KPM 1000 series introducing writers from jazz, pop and other contemporary fields. It encapsulated a golden age of British television theme music including Animal Magic, Grandstand, Mastermind and News at Ten.
The KPM Music Group was taken over by EMI in 1969 but the international standing of the library was such that the distinctive KPM name was retained.
In 1984 KPM produced the first library music to be released on Compact Disc.
Recent years have seen KPM’s pioneering development of its online search and download system. By transforming this into a single worldwide site (PLAY) which offers a superb collection of competing music labels, clients can now search and download high quality music from alternative production music companies based in the UK, mainland Europe and the USA.
At the same time KPM’s composer roster has moved into new waters reflecting the changes in pop and dance music. Music from Jan Cyrka and Toby Bricheno, Jim Copperthwaite, Oliver Vessey and Rupert Gregson-Williams has joined the established works by Dave Hewson, Andy Clark, Curtis Schwartz, Richard Myhill and Dick Walter.
KPM now spends more than £750,000 per annum producing new recordings both in the UK and overseas.
While nurturing new talent KPM also provides an unparalleled back catalogue which remains as popular as ever.
MUSICHOUSE was founded in 1986 by Robin Phillips, a stalwart of the music library business having run KPM through the ‘60s into the ‘70s before founding Bruton Music in 1976, and Aaron Harry, Robin’s longstanding creative head.
The MUSICHOUSE launch coincided with the new Compact Disc format, and they promptly embarked on a promotion which saw them giving away 150 CD players to potential new clients, to help convince the market of the benefits of the new format. Uptake was swift, and of course CDs very quickly became the industry standard.
Many of the composers writing for MH at the start were very familiar names in the library business. Trevor Bastow, James Clarke, Brian Bennett, Alan Hawkshaw, John Scott to name only a few. But Harry introduced a lot of new composers who themselves would go on to future success, such as Benson & Taubin, Kevin Malpass, Henry Jackman, Stephen & Darren Loveday and Guy Barker.
MUSICHOUSE developed as a full service catalogue, recording orchestral drama projects next to jazz, pop and more specialist jingles, bumpers and donuts. It was sold to EMI in 1997 and re-launched in 2003, MUSICHOUSE forms part of the EMI production music library stable that includes the KPM Music catalogue.
http://www.kpmmusichouse.com/
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.