Disney Music Group

**Disney Music Group** (**DMG**) is the music recording arm of The Walt Disney Studios, a division of The Walt Disney Company. It is located at the studio's headquarters in Burbank, California. The division's subsidiaries consist of two owned record labels—Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records—and Disney Music Publishing. This publishing entity administers the company's music, as well as Disney Concerts.

## Background

From the founding of The Walt Disney Company in 1923, music has been key to the organization's success. The initial cartoons used both public-domain and original music, but, since neither Walt Disney nor Roy O. Disney had any music industry experience, the studio had to rely on outside music publishers. In 1928, Walt Disney released the first Mickey Mouse motion picture, *Steamboat Willie,* which became the first animated short-subject film with sound. Two other unreleased Mickey Mouse shorts have been previously-produced and were subsequently given soundtracks before their eventual premieres. In 1929, Walt Disney and Carl Stalling wrote "Minnie's Yoo-Hoo," the first song from the Walt Disney Studios, for *Mickey's Follies*. On December 16, 1929, the Disney Film Recording Company, Limited, was incorporated as Walt Disney Productions' subsidiary.

Saul Bourne at Irving Berlin Music approached the studio after seeing *Three Little Pigs* interested in the publishing rights for its theme song, "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?". With Disney partnering with Bourne and Berlin, this partnership led to the song being recorded twice by the Don Bestor Orchestra (released by Victor Records) and Bill Scotti Orchestra (released by Bluebird Records). The song was a hit and a Depression-era anthem.

Walt Disney Productions then began licensing out its music with the record company, either selecting its own or Disney's talent to record it. Until 1936, no one had issued an actual song track recording on disc. RCA's HMV label released Disney short film music in England, with the US release a year later. The *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs* soundtrack album released by Victor was the first feature film soundtrack. Disney had sold its rights to the *Snow White* music to Bourne Co. Music as they needed more funds to complete the film.

In 1938, Fantasound—the first Surround sound system—was designed and tested by Walt Disney Productions to release *Fantasia.* In 1943, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated Walt Disney Productions for two Academy Award categories in recognition of *Bambi*; Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Music, Best Song for its song, "Love is a Song."

In addition to *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs*, Disney also sold the music publishing rights to *Pinocchio* and *Dumbo* to Bourne. To date, all attempts to reacquire the music rights to the three films had failed. After *Bambi*, World War II's effects reduced the production of new feature-length animation, with Disney either making feature-length live films with some animation or themed short films into anthology films like *Make Mine Music*. The latter films contain the bulk of the more commercial music done by recording stars, thus released by their record company.

In April 1947, the Walt Disney Music Company (WDMC) was incorporated, with Fred Raphael putting the company together in late 1949 to publish and license songs from *Cinderella*. *Cinderella* records appeared in stores along with other merchandise in 1949 before the 1950 release of the movie. The original RCA 78 RPM multi-disc-album release was number 1 on the *Billboard* magazine pop charts, and as a result, Disney Music was racing into the Big Business category. While WDMC did not produce the records, Raphael did handle the selection, performance and recording.

James Alexander "Jimmy" Johnson, Jr., a fired Disney publicity staff member who wanted to stay at Disney, moved through a series of jobs there in the traffic department, and then accounting. After a stint in the military, he became assistant to the corporate secretary, then handled merchandising issues among other additional duties. With Roy Disney's split of the merchandising division from Walt Disney Productions, Johnson became head of the merchandising division's publication department in 1950. He took on managing business affairs for the Walt Disney Music Company.

Raphael took the WDMC into creating original non-film music. WDMC had several successful songs outside of the films, including *Mule Train* by Frankie Laine, "Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)" by Patti Page and "Shrimp Boats" by Jo Stafford, however; for every non-film hit, there was a score more that flopped. While *Alice in Wonderland* was a first-run failure, its songs became evergreen for the music company with multiple stars performing the music. Raphael moved his office off the lotto Hollywood and opened a WDMC in New York.

Walt Disney Productions formed the Wonderland Music Company in 1951.

Disney's next push into music came from *The Mickey Mouse Club* as eight 6-inch 78 RPM records for the show hit shelves the week it premiered on television. Standard 7-inch 45 RPM versions were cut and released later, both through the Walt Disney Music Company's manufacturing partners. After a year, Golden Records and Am-Par Records turned overproduction of the show's music back to Disney, leading to the Disneyland Records label in 1956.

## History

The Walt Disney Company traces the Disney Music Group back to the founding of Disneyland Records in 1956. In that year, the Walt Disney Music Company's Disneyland Records record company was founded on Fess Parker's 1954 hit recording of the "Ballad of Davy Crockett" using the Disneyland label licensed to Columbia Records. The Disneyland label issued its first album, *A Child's Garden of Verses*. Also, Disneyland Records gave a Parker's "Wringle Wrangle" single from the "Westward Ho the Wagons!" film within a year of starting operations; the single became a hit and led the company to start recording music from outside the movie. However, whatever was released by the company, the industry categorized as intended for an audience of children. Pricing was directed towards an adult audience, which was more than standard children fare. The only outside success was "Tutti's Trumpets." In 1959, the Disneyland label became the children's label, and Buena Vista became the label for the occasional pop song record. The Lyric Street Records label was founded in July 1997 as a division of Hollywood Records. In August 1997, Mammoth Records was purchased for $25 million to act as an independent Disney label.

### Buena Vista Music Group

The industry-recognized founding of the group was in March 1998 with the reorganization in Disney brought all Disney music labels into one unit, Buena Vista Music Group, in the Walt Disney Studios. The group consisted of Hollywood Records, **Buena Vista Records**, Lyric Street Records and Mammoth Records with Walt Disney Records and Disney Music Publishing transferred out of Disney Consumer Products.

In September 2005, BVMG signed with EMI to distribute its album in the UK, Europe, South Africa and the Middle East, replacing Warner Music Group. In November 2006, Disney Music Publishing and Warner/Chappell Music Inc. agreed to a licensing agreement for Europe and South America's significant markets. In 2006, BVMG launched a concert production arm, Buena Vista Concerts starting with The Cheetah Girls: The Party's Just Begun Tour and High School Musical: The Concert.

### Disney Music Group

In April 2007, Disney decided to semi-retire the Buena Vista brand from the group's name. In November 2008, Disney Music Group formed the Disney Pearl label in conjunction with a multi-part deal with Yanni.

Lyric Street launched a subsidiary label, Carolwood Records, in October 2008, which was soon shuttered in November 2009. On April 14, 2010, Disney Music Group announced the Lyric Street label's closure, with some bands transferred to other branches of Disney Music Group and others dropped altogether.

On January 31, 2012, DMG chair Bob Cavallo retired with Ken Bunt succeeding him as head of DMG with a promotion to executive vice president from his post as senior vice president of marketing. Bunt became president on March 27, 2013. A unified licensing department was formed within Disney Music Group by December 2012 under the vice president of licensing, Dominic Griffin.

Lucy Hale signed with Hollywood Records' Lyric Street sub-label in June 2012 indicated a return to country music changed to DMG Nashville with her single release "You Sound Good To Me" in the 2nd quarter of 2014.

In February 2016, Disney Music Group, in collaboration with Philips Lighting, launched LightVibes. In January 2017, DMG acquired the distribution rights to the entire *Star Wars* music catalogue from Sony Classical; the soundtrack albums were then released by Walt Disney Records in digital formats the same day. Disney digitally remastered and reissued the original *Star Wars* soundtrack albums in physical formats on May 4, 2018.

In early April 2017, DMG and Universal Music Group Nashville relaunched Buena Vista Records as a joint venture label for country music and worldwide country music genre projects. The label's first signed an act of CB30 duo of brothers, Christian and Brody. The company and DigiTour Media formed in June 2017, RMI Recordings, a new label for "digital-first" talent.

During American Idol's Disney Night on April 29, 2018, DCappella, Disney Music Group's new a cappella singing group, made their debut. On Friday, August 23, 2019, Disney Music Group debuted their first podcast, *For Scores*, a composer interview series, and kicked off at D23.

## Divisions and labels

### Walt Disney Records

Walt Disney Records, the group's flagship record label, was founded in 1956 as **Disneyland Records**. Disney would not have to release through third-party labels not associated with the studio, such as RCA Victor or Capitol Records, which had issued Disney albums in the past. Under the Disneyland label, among its other recordings, the studio also released new soundtrack LPs of some of the animated Disney films, including a 3-LP album set in the monophonic sound of all of the classical music heard in *Fantasia*, perhaps the first soundtrack album containing virtually all the music from a feature-length film. (The "Meet the Soundtrack" intermission segment and the jam session were not included, and Deems Taylor's commentary was also omitted.) Disneyland Records released cover versions (rather than soundtracks) of the songs from other animated films, such as *Lady and the Tramp*. In 1989, the label was renamed to its current branding and now releases a broad range of Disney-branded music, such as soundtracks to Walt Disney Pictures' films, original studio albums from Disney Channel artists, compilations albums by Radio Disney, soundtracks to the *Star Wars* films, and artists Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban.

### Disney Music Publishing

Disney Music Publishing controls the publishing rights to music from Disney's film, television, theatre and theme park divisions. Imprints include Walt Disney Music Company, Wonderland Music Company, Agarita Music, Bantha Music, Buena Vista Music Co., Falferious Music, Five Hundred South Songs, Fuzzy Muppet Songs, Holpic Music, Inc., Hollywood Pictures Music, Mad Muppet Melodies, Marvel Comics Music, Marvel Superheroes Music, Pixar Music, Pixar Talking Pictures, Seven Peaks Music, Seven Summits Music, Touchstone Pictures Music & Songs, Inc., Utapau Music, and Wampa-Tauntaun Music.

### Disney Concerts

Disney Concerts, formerly **Buena Vista Concerts**, are involved in the holding, production, distribution and sponsoring of concert events related to Disney.

### Buena Vista Records

Buena Vista Records, a label founded in 1959 devoted mainly to original soundtrack albums of mostly live-action Disney film musicals, such as *Mary Poppins*, *The Happiest Millionaire*, *Summer Magic*, and *Babes in Toyland*, as well as recordings by actors then under contract to Disney, such as Annette Funicello and Hayley Mills. Often, at the same time that Buena Vista Records released a genuine soundtrack album of one of the Disney movies, Disneyland Records, another, less expensive Disney label, would release a cover version of the songs from that film. Buena Vista Records also operates as an imprint of Walt Disney Records and has recently been employed to serve as a pseudonym for specific releases by Walt Disney Records. These include the more adult-oriented *Almost Alice* and non-Disney-branded releases and releasing classic albums for Walt Disney Records adult artists such as Billy Ray Cyrus and Nathan Pacheco.

Buena Vista Records was relaunched in April 2017 as a joint DMG and Universal Music Group Nashville country label. The label's first signed act was the brotherly music duo, CB30, whose track "Marina" has a Luke Bryan appearance.

### Hollywood Records

Hollywood Records primarily focuses on pop, rock, alternative and country genres, and soundtracks from Marvel Studios' films, in conjunction with Marvel Music. Initially, the label was primarily a soundtrack label for non-Disney branded releases by Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures, with few significant artists, like Queen. The label now releases music from prominent artists such as Breaking Benjamin, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Holt and Shawn Hook.

### DMG Nashville

* **DMG Nashville** is the label used by Hollywood Records to specialize in country music. Patrick Joseph Music and DMG Nashville signed a co-pub agreement with songwriter Melissa Peirce in 2012 with an extension in May 2015. In June 2012, Lucy Hale was signed to Hollywood Records formerly defunct country sublabel, Lyric Street, for a single and album due in 2013. In June 2013, Patrick Clifford was named Vice President of Music Publishing and A&R for Disney Music Publishing in Nashville, responsible for the A&R functions for Disney Music Group in Nashville. In November 2013, DMG and Bigger Picture Group signed an agreement for DMG to handle Bigger Picture music licensing. After Bigger Picture's closure in 2014, DMG Nashville released its first studio album, Lucy Hale's *Road Between*, on June 3.

### Fox Music

**Fox Music** is a division handling television and film soundtracks primarily from 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, and 20th Television. It became part of Disney Music Group following the 21st Century Fox assets acquisition in 2019. Hollywood Records distributes Fox Music albums.

### RMI Recordings

RMI Recordings, a new label formed in June 2017 to sign "digital-first" talent. The founders of DigiTour Media created the brand, which produces live events with social media artists. The first talent signed to the label was Max & Harvey, a pair of UK twins, in April 2018.

### Former labels

**Disney Pearl**, also as **Disney Pearl Series**, was an imprint of Disney Music Group for adult contemporary and pop music launched in November 2008 with a deal with Yanni for *Yanni Voices* albums, including a Buena Vista Concert extensive tour, two Yanni PBS specials and sales for the album's four vocal talent, Nathan Pacheco, Chloe, Ender Thomas and Leslie Mills. The label released albums, including from Kenny Loggins and Brian Wilson, until 2012.

**Lyric Street Records** was an American record label specializing in country music. President Randy Goodman, formerly a general manager for RCA Records, founded the brand in 1997. Among its first artists were Lari White, John Berry, Aaron Tippin, SHeDAISY and extremely popular Rascal Flatts. **Carolwood Records** was a short-lived subsidiary label of Lyric Street launched in October 2008. In April 2010, Disney folded the brand into Hollywood Records.

**Mammoth Records**, the formerly independent record label, was founded by Jay Faires in 1989. In 1993 it became part of a joint venture with WEA-owned Atlantic Records but hit the market again in 1997 when bought by the then Buena Vista Music Group, up until it was based in North Carolina. It had a very successful alternative artist roster including acts such as Antenna, Blake Babies, Chainsaw Kittens, Dash Rip Rock, Dillon Fence, Frente!, Fun-Da-Mental, Fu Manchu, Jason & the Scorchers, Joe Henry, Juliana Hatfield, Kill Creek, Machines of Loving Grace, the Bats, the Melvins, My Friend Steve, Seven Mary Three, Squirrel Nut Zippers, the Sidewinders, Vanilla Trainwreck, and Victoria Williams. In 2003, Disney folded the label into Hollywood Records.

## *For Scores* podcast

On Friday, August 23, 2019, Disney Music Group debuted their first podcast, *For Scores*, produced with Treefort Media and longtime Disney Music executive Maria Kleinman and kicked off at D23. The podcast is a composer interview series with the composer working in film, television, and games hosted by journalist Jon Burlingame. The first set dropped has four episodes interviewing Henry Jackman, Pinar Toprak and Alan Silvestri. A second set is slated for October 2019 and a third for early 2020.

## Distribution

Initially, Disney Music Group did not have its distribution network, either in its native market of the U.S. or internationally. It had a licensing deal with Warner Music Group from 1995 to 2005. Furthermore, Sony Music Entertainment was also a distributor of Hollywood Records' releases in mainland Asia. After the agreement with Warner expired, Disney engaged in distribution negotiations with other third-party companies.

In 2005, Disney relied mainly on Universal Music Group and EMI Music, given the territory. UMG's Universal Music Distribution was responsible for distribution in the United States, Canada, India and other regions across North America, South America, Asia and Japan. Meanwhile, EMI conducted distribution in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and several other territories across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In both agreements, Disney handled its marketing and other similar functions.

In September 2012, Universal Music Group acquired EMI and initially pledged not to renew EMI's European distribution license with Disney. However, in March 2013, Disney Music Group renegotiated its agreement with Universal Music Group. Disney expanded distribution and marketing rights worldwide to collaborate between Disney's record labels and artists with Universal's production department, allowing DMG access to Universal's extensive roster of award-winning music producers and songwriters. In return, UMG now will have access to Disney's comprehensive marketing entities (including ABC, Radio Disney, Disney Channel, ABC Radio etc.).

Seoul Records, now Kakao M – South Korea's most prominent music distributor – formerly handled the Disney music catalogue in the 1990s. S.M. Entertainment later acquired the log. (Universal Music Korea currently manages the Disney music catalogue in South Korea.)

## See also

* Marvel Music
* Universal Music Group
* Warner Music Group