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| Hill and Range Publishing | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hill and Range Publishing |
| Type | Music publishing |
| Founded | 1944 |
| Founder | Julian Aberbach; Jean Aberbach |
| Headquarters | New York City; Nashville |
| Key people | Jean Aberbach; Julian Aberbach; Elvis Presley; Colonel Tom Parker |
| Products | Sheet music; song rights; licensing |
Hill and Range Publishing Hill and Range Publishing was a mid-20th century American music publishing firm founded in 1944 by Jean Aberbach and Julian Aberbach in New York City and later active in Nashville and Los Angeles. The company became influential in country, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and popular music, working with artists, songwriters, producers, and record labels across the United States and internationally. Hill and Range's catalog and business practices intersected with major performers, managers, labels, producers, and publishing houses of the era.
Hill and Range emerged during the postwar boom when families, entrepreneurs, and émigrés such as the Aberbach brothers sought opportunities in the Tin Pan Alley and Brill Building publishing milieu, connecting to figures like Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, and Tony Bennett. The firm expanded into Nashville aligning with the Grand Ole Opry, RCA Victor, Decca Records, Columbia Records, Capitol Records, Sun Records, Atlantic Records, Chess Records, Motown Records, Stax Records, King Records, Dot Records, and regional independent labels. Collaborations and rivalries involved music executives and impresarios such as Sam Phillips, Randy Wood, Moses Asch, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Sam Cooke, Phil Spector, Leiber and Stoller-era writers, and publisher networks tied to ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. Hill and Range's mid-century moves connected it to artists and songsmiths who worked with Chet Atkins, Owen Bradley, Floyd Cramer, Don Gibson, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Hank Snow, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Marty Robbins, Lefty Frizzell, Johnny Cash, June Carter, Rosanne Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and contemporaneous Nashville institutions.
Hill and Range operated publishing, licensing, and administration divisions interfacing with major licensing bodies like BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC, and engaged with record companies including RCA Records, Sun Records, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Capitol Records, Atlantic Records, Motown Records, Stax Records, and Island Records. The company negotiated placements with film studios and television networks such as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures, NBC, CBS, ABC, and producers tied to Elvis Presley projects under manager Colonel Tom Parker. Hill and Range's administrative practices mirrored publishers like Chappell & Co., Irving Music, Northern Songs, Carlin Music, Peer International, Warner Chappell Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management, and Universal Music Publishing Group while dealing with agents and attorneys connected to Irving Azoff, Allen Klein, Lew Wasserman, Brian Epstein, Albert Grossman, Clive Davis, John Hammond, Ahmet Ertegun, and Jerry Wexler. The firm maintained offices and relationships across music centers including New York City, Nashville, Los Angeles, Memphis, New Orleans, Chicago, London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Sydney, and Toronto.
Hill and Range's catalogue encompassed country, pop, and early rock songs by writers and artists who worked with publishers and labels linked to Hank Williams, Arthur Crudup, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James, Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Booker T. Jones, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, The Temptations, Dion DiMucci, Paul Anka, Neil Sedaka, Burt Bacharach, Hal David, Bobby Darin, Frankie Valli, Dionne Warwick, Petula Clark, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, The Everly Brothers, The Beach Boys, Beach Boys producer Brian Wilson, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, The Who, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd. Songwriters published or administrated in Hill and Range-related deals included names akin to Jean Aberbach, Julian Aberbach, and collaborators connected to Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman, Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Neil Diamond, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Elton John, Bernie Taupin, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and Patti Smith.
Hill and Range's legal and royalty practices intersected with major litigations, performance rights, and synchronization deals involving entities like ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, The Harry Fox Agency, United States Copyright Office, Sony/ATV, Warner/Chappell, Irving Music, Northern Songs, and landmark disputes reminiscent of cases involving Allen Klein, The Beatles' Northern Songs, Sinatra-related contracts, Colonel Tom Parker's management negotiations, and settlement patterns seen with Chappell & Co. and Carlin Music. The firm's royalty splits, mechanical licensing, and sync arrangements were negotiated with record labels, film studios, broadcasters, and performance rights organizations tied to RCA Victor, MGM, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., CBS, NBC, ABC, and modern collecting societies across Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. Hill and Range participated in catalog sales, acquisitions, and administration deals comparable to transactions involving PolyGram, MCA Records, BMG, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and catalog investors such as Concord Music, Kobalt Music Group, Primary Wave Music, Hipgnosis Songs Fund, and Round Hill Music.
The company's influence is reflected across publishing practices, artist-manager relationships, and repertoire placements in films, television, and recordings that involved stars and institutions like Elvis Presley, Colonel Tom Parker, RCA Victor, Sun Studio, Nashville Sound architects Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley, Grand Ole Opry, MGM musicals, Hollywood studios, British Invasion bands, Motown artists, Stax Records musicians, and later catalog curations by Sony/ATV, Warner/Chappell, Universal Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management, Concord Music, and Hipgnosis. Hill and Range's practices influenced contract norms observed in later disputes involving The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kanye West, Adele, Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, and the modern streaming-era negotiations with platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, and rights organizations worldwide. The catalog's continued exploitation, reissues, and licensing for media underscore its lasting role in 20th-century popular music history and the evolution of publishing business models.
Category:Music publishing companies Category:American companies established in 1944