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{{Short description|American composer (1869–1930)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2014}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
|name = Leo Feist
| name = Leo Feist
|image = Leo Feist.jpg
| image = Leo Feist.jpg
|caption = Leo Feist<br />Photo from ''Music Trade Review'', 1922<ref name="MTR 1922 Sep 23">[http://mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1922-75-13/MTR-1922-75-13-48.pdf Leo Feist Celebrates 25th Business Anniversary] ''Music Trade Review'' (journal), Vol. 75, No. 13, September 23, 1922, pg. 44</ref>
| caption = Leo Feist<br />Photo from ''Music Trade Review'', 1922<ref name="MTR 1922 Sep 23">[http://mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1922-75-13/MTR-1922-75-13-48.pdf Leo Feist Celebrates 25th Business Anniversary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311020415/https://mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1922-75-13/MTR-1922-75-13-48.pdf |date=March 11, 2023 }} ''Music Trade Review'' (journal), Vol. 75, No. 13, September 23, 1922, pg. 44</ref>
|birth_date = January 3, 1869
| birth_date = January 3, 1869
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1930|06|21|1869|03|01}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1930|06|21|1869|03|01}}
|nationality = American
| nationality = American
|occupation = [[Executive (management)|Executive]]
| occupation = [[Executive (management)|Executive]]
| spouse = {{marriage|Bessie Meyer|1904}}
|family = [[Felix E. Feist]] (nephew)
| children = 3
| relatives = [[Felix F. Feist]] (brother) <br/> [[Felix E. Feist]] (nephew) <br/> [[Raymond E. Feist]] (great-nephew)
}}
}}
'''Leopold Feist''' (January 3, 1869, [[New York City]] or Mount Verson, New York<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=1999 |title=Leo Feist Collection - Guides to Special Collections in the Music Division of the Library of Congress |url=https://findingaids.loc.gov/exist_collections/ead3pdf/music/2015/mu015004.pdf |website=Library of Congress}}</ref> – June 21, 1930, [[Mount Vernon, New York]]), was a pioneer in the popular music publishing business.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Press |first=The Associated |date=1996-11-20 |title=Leonard Feist, Music Executive, 85 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/20/arts/leonard-feist-music-executive-85.html |access-date=2024-06-11 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 1897, Feist founded and ran a music publishing firm bearing his name. In the 1920s, at the height of the golden age of popular music, his firm was among the seven largest publishers of popular music in the world.<ref name="NYTs 1930 Jun 22">"Leo Feist Dead; Music Publisher," ''[[The New York Times]],'' June 22, 1930</ref><ref name="Grove Musicians 1986">''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|The New Grove Dictionary of American Music]]'' (Feist is in Vol. 2 of 4), [[H. Wiley Hitchcock]] & [[Stanley Sadie]] (eds.), London: [[Macmillan Press]] (1986); {{OCLC|13184437}}</ref><ref name="Jason 2003">''Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song'' (new ed.), by David Alan Jasen (born 1937), [[New York City|New York]]: [[Routledge]] (2003) (biography contains portrait); {{OCLC|51631299}}</ref><ref name="Bio Dictionary of American Music">''Biographical Dictionary of American Music,'' by Charles Eugene Claghorn (1911–2005), [[West Nyack, New York]]: Parker Publishing Co. (1973); {{OCLC|609781}}</ref> The company used the motto "You can't go wrong, with any FEIST Song."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://images.indianahistory.org/digital/collection/p16797coll1/id/139 | title=Pal of my cradle days : A beautiful, mother waltz ballad }}</ref>
'''Leopold Feist''' (1 March 1869 [[New York City]] – 21 June 1930 [[Mount Vernon, New York]]) founded and ran a music publishing firm bearing his name that — in the 1920s, at the height of the golden age of popular music — was among the seven largest publishers of popular music in the World.<ref name="NYTs 1930 Jun 22" /><ref name="Grove Musicians 1986" /><ref name="Jason 2003" /><ref name="Bio Dictionary of American Music" />


== Leo Feist, Inc. ==
== Career ==
Feist started his career as a corset salesman, with songwriting as a hobby. He had trouble selling his music to a publisher, so he formed his own publishing house. He was successful in selling his own music through the new venture, and turned it into a full business, Leo Feist, Inc.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=1930-06-22 |title=Obituary for Leo Feist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-obituary-for-leo-feist/148434881/ |access-date=2024-05-31 |work=Daily News |pages=306}}</ref>

=== Leo Feist, Inc. ===
[[File:Geoffrey O'Hara - K-K-K-Katy (cover).jpg|thumb|''[[K-K-K-Katy]]'', cover of the original publication by Leo Feist in New York, 1918]]
[[File:Geoffrey O'Hara - K-K-K-Katy (cover).jpg|thumb|''[[K-K-K-Katy]]'', cover of the original publication by Leo Feist in New York, 1918]]
Feist marketed his publications very aggressively, even by [[Tin Pan Alley]] standards. He maintained offices in most major cities, each with a regional manager (in Boston, for instance, his delegate was [[Billy Lang]]). Favored employees were rewarded with corporate largesse; in 1914, for instance, selected managers gathered in Atlantic City, where it was said that "money flowed like water."<ref name="NY Clipper 1914 Aug 8" />
The first publishing hit was ''Smokey Mokes'' in 1895.<ref name=":3" /> Feist marketed his publications very aggressively, even by [[Tin Pan Alley]] standards. He maintained offices in most major cities, each with a regional manager (in Boston, for instance, his delegate was [[Billy Lang]]). Favored employees were rewarded with corporate largesse; in 1914, for instance, selected managers gathered in Atlantic City, where it was said that "money flowed like water."<ref name="NY Clipper 1914 Aug 8" /> Feist also set up branch offices in several locations abroad, increasing the popularity of American music in Europe and Australia.<ref name=":3" />


As evidence of the size of his firm, Leo Feist, Inc., was one of seven defendants named in a 1920 Sherman antitrust suit brought by the US Justice Department for controlling 80% of the music publishing business.<ref name="NYTs 1920 Aug 4" />
As evidence of the size of his firm, Leo Feist, Inc., was one of seven defendants named in a 1920 Sherman antitrust suit brought by the US Justice Department for controlling 80% of the music publishing business.<ref name="NYTs 1920 Aug 4" /> The 7 were [[Consolidated Music Corporation]], [[Irving Berlin, Inc.]], Leo Feist, Inc., [[T.B. Harms & Francis, Day & Hunter, Inc.]], [[Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc.]], [[Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, Inc.]], and [[M. Witmark & Sons, Inc.]]<ref name="Jasen35">{{cite book |last1=Jasen |first1=David A. |title=Tin Pan Alley: the Composers, the Songs, the Performers, and their Times |date=1988 |publisher=Donald I. Fine, Inc. |location=New York |isbn=1556110995 |page=35}}</ref>


⚫
"[[My Blue Heaven (song)|My Blue Heaven]]," written by [[Walter Donaldson (songwriter)|Walter Donaldson]] (music) in collaboration with [[George A. Whiting|George Whiting]] (lyrics), became the biggest song in the history of Leo Feist, Inc. [[Gene Austin]] recorded it ([[Victor Talking Machine Company|Victor]] 20964), selling over five million copies, and [[Eddie Cantor]] [[Song-plugger|plugged]] it in [[vaudeville]] and in the [[Ziegfeld Follies]] of 1927. It sold over five million copies of sheet music.<ref name="Jason 2003" />
* [[Consolidated Music Corporation]] – 144 W. 37th St., New York, NY
* [[Irving Berlin, Inc.]] – 1567 Broadway, New York, NY
* Leo Feist, Inc. – 231 W 40th St, New York, NY (in 1903, 134 W 37th St, New York, NY)<ref name="Jasen35">{{cite book |last1=Jasen |first1=David A. |title=Tin Pan Alley: the Composers, the Songs, the Performers, and their Times |date=1988 |publisher=Donald I. Fine, Inc. |location=New York |isbn=1556110995 |page=35}}</ref>
* [[T.B. Harms & Francis, Day & Hunter, Inc.]] – 62 W. 45th St., New York, NY
* [[Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc.]] – 218 W. 47th St., New York, NY
* [[Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, Inc.]] – 1571 Broadway, New York, NY (sold in bankruptcy to Mills Music in 1929)
* [[M. Witmark & Sons, Inc.]] – 144 W. 37th St, New York, NY


==== Mergers and reacqusition ====
⚫
"[[My Blue Heaven (song)|My Blue Heaven]]," written by [[Walter Donaldson]] (music) in collaboration with [[George A. Whiting|George Whiting]] (lyrics), became the biggest song in the history of Leo Feist, Inc. [[Gene Austin]] recorded it ([[Victor Talking Machine Company|Victor]] 20964), selling over five million copies, and [[Eddie Cantor]] [[Song-plugger|plugged]] it in [[vaudeville]] and in the [[Ziegfeld Follies]] of 1927. It sold over five million copies of sheet music.<ref name="Jason 2003" />
Feist bought competitors Balmer & Weber (1907), and the [[The Morse Music Company|Morse Music Co.]] (1915).


In 1929, Feist negotiated a merger of his company into the [[NBC|National Broadcasting Company]] (NBC), along with rival sheet music publisher [[Carl Fischer Music]]., which was also a family-owned business.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1929-12-15 |title=Music Publishers in Huge Combine - Carl Fischer and Leo Feist Concerns are in Merger; NBC Has Part |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-music-publishers-in/148384971/ |access-date=2024-05-31 |work=The Birmingham News |pages=83}}</ref><ref group="Note">Fischer's obituary indicates that the merger inovolved his company and Harms, which appears to refer to [[T. B. Harms & Francis, Day & Hunter, Inc.|Harms, Inc.]]. Harms was bought by Warner Brothers in 1929, and not RCA/NBC, and the obituary writer may have confised Harms and Fischer, since they both were merged in separate transactions in 1929.</ref> The two merged units operated somewhat independently, with the former owners acting as principals and as board members of the new holding company.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ussher |first=Bruno David |date=1929-11-08 |title=Music and Musicians |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-evening-express-music-and-mu/148434555/ |access-date=2024-05-31 |work=Los Angeles Evening Express |pages=28}}</ref> The combined company was capitalized at $6.6 million<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=June 24, 1930 |title=Leo Feist, Music Publishing King, is Dead at Sixty |url=https://www.jta.org/1930/06/24/archive/leo-feist-music-publishing-king-is-dead-at-sixty |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027171430/https://www.jta.org/1930/06/24/archive/leo-feist-music-publishing-king-is-dead-at-sixty |archive-date=October 27, 2019 |access-date=October 27, 2019 |newspaper=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]]}}</ref> and did $3.6 million of business annually at the time.<ref name=":0" /> Feist died less than a year later, and the two families took their two companies private again less than two years after that, buying them back from NBC.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1932-01-30 |title=2 MUSIC PUBLISHERS QUIT RADIO MERGER; Carl Fischer, Inc., and Leo Feist, Inc., Effect Transfer of Stock Ownership. PLAN HELD IMPRACTICABLE Firms Had Functioned for 2 Years as Units in Radio Music Company, N.B.C. Subsidiary. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/01/30/archives/2-music-publishers-quit-radio-merger-carl-fischer-inc-and-leo-feist.html |access-date=2024-05-31 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
In 1935, five years after the death of Leo Feist, [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] acquired a controlling interest in the capital stock of Leo Feist, Inc.<ref name="NYTs 1935 Oct 29" /> In 1973, MGM sold Robbins, Feist, and Miller (known at Big 3) to [[United Artists]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LwkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq |title=Big 3 Sold to UA; Plus 1/2 Can. Co. |newspaper=Billboard Magazine |date=October 27, 1973 |page=3}}</ref> In 1981, MGM acquired UA and formed MGM/UA Communications Co.<ref name=fu>{{cite book|title=International Directory of Company Histories, Volume 25|date=1999|publisher=St. James Press|location=Detroit|isbn=9781558623675|url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/metro-goldwyn-mayer-inc-history/|accessdate=February 13, 2015}}</ref>In 1983, MGM/UA sold its music publishing business to [[Sony Music|CBS Records]].<ref>{{Cite news| last = Irv Lichtman| title = CBS Songs Grows With MGM/UA Deal| work = Billboard| date = 1983-01-08|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PSQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT2#v=onepage&q&f=false|via=Google Books}}</ref> CBS then sold the print music arm, Big 3 Music, to [[Columbia Pictures]].<ref>{{Cite news| last = Irv Lichtman| title = Columbia Pictures To Acquire Big 3| work = Billboard| date = 1983-02-12|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9iMEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PT39|via=Google Books}}</ref>


The company published about 2,000 titles in its founder's lifetime.<ref name=":3" />
⚫
== Family ==
; Spouse
⚫
In a pseudo-secret ceremony, Leopold Feist married Bessie Meyer June 24, 1904.<ref name="Evening World 1904 Aug 29" />


In 1935, five years after the death of the founder, and three years after the company was taken private again, [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] acquired a controlling interest in the capital stock of Leo Feist, Inc.<ref name="NYTs 1935 Oct 29" />
; Siblings
⚫
[[Felix F. Feist]] (Jul 15, 1883 – Apr 15, 1936), Leo's brother, was a sales executive at [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]. [[Felix E. Feist|Felix Ellison Feist]] (Feb 28, 1910 – Sep 2, 1965) — a film and television director — was the son of Felix F. Feist. Felix Ellison Feist, as stepfather, adopted [[Raymond E. Feist]].


In mid-1973, MGM consolidated the offices of its four music publishers, sold Robbins-Feist & Miller (known as Big 3), and Hastings.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1973-06-12 |title=New Office Unites MGM Music Firms |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-new-office-unites/148438426/ |access-date=2024-05-31 |work=The Los Angeles Times |pages=68}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-04-03 |title=Obituary for JAY LEIPZIG |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican-obituary-for-ja/148438517/ |access-date=2024-05-31 |work=The Santa Fe New Mexican |pages=A007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Gilbert |first=Justin |date=1940-06-05 |title=Scene On Broadway |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-record-scene-on-broadway/148438734/ |access-date=2024-05-31 |work=The Record |pages=15}}</ref> The same year, it sold the Big 3 to [[United Artists]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LwkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3 |title=Big 3 Sold to UA; Plus 1/2 Can. Co. |newspaper=Billboard Magazine |date=October 27, 1973 |page=3 |access-date=September 1, 2019 |archive-date=March 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307172223/https://books.google.com/books?id=LwkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1973-10-19 |title=United Artists to distribute MGM films |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-united-artist/148438319/ |access-date=2024-05-31 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |pages=46}}</ref> In 1981, MGM acquired UA and formed MGM/UA Communications Co.<ref name="fu">{{cite book|title=International Directory of Company Histories, Volume 25|date=1999|publisher=St. James Press|location=Detroit|isbn=9781558623675|url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/metro-goldwyn-mayer-inc-history/|accessdate=February 13, 2015|archive-date=February 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220213144356/http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/metro-goldwyn-mayer-inc-history/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1983, MGM/UA sold its music publishing business to [[Sony Music|CBS Records]].<ref>{{Cite news| last = Irv Lichtman| title = CBS Songs Grows With MGM/UA Deal| magazine = Billboard| date = 1983-01-08| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PSQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT2| via = Google Books| access-date = September 1, 2019| archive-date = March 11, 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230311020429/https://books.google.com/books?id=PSQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT2| url-status = live}}</ref> CBS then sold the print music arm, Big 3 Music, to [[Columbia Pictures]].<ref>{{Cite news| last = Irv Lichtman| title = Columbia Pictures To Acquire Big 3| magazine = Billboard| date = 1983-02-12| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9iMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT39| via = Google Books| access-date = January 2, 2022| archive-date = March 11, 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230311020409/https://books.google.com/books?id=9iMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT39| url-status = live}}</ref>
; Children
== Personal life ==
[[Leonard S. Feist]] (1911–1996) &ndash; Leo and Bessie's son &ndash; was a music publisher, copyright expert, and advocate for the music publishing industry. Nathan Feist, (1905-1965) Publisher and Advertising Executive, Milton Feist, (1907-1975) rabbi, scholar, teacher, publisher, and translator of opera.<ref>{{Cite news|first= |last= |authorlink= |title= Leo Feist, Music Publishing King, is Dead at Sixty |newspaper=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]]|date=June 24, 1930 |url= https://www.jta.org/1930/06/24/archive/leo-feist-music-publishing-king-is-dead-at-sixty |accessdate=}}</ref>

⚫
In a pseudo-secret ceremony, Feist married Bessie Meyer on June 24, 1904.<ref name="Evening World 1904 Aug 29" /> They had three children: Leonard S. Feist (1911–1996),<ref name=":4" /> Nathan Feist (1905–1965), and Milton Feist (1907–1975).

* Leonard Feist was a music publisher, copyright expert, and advocate for the music publishing industry. He was still in college at the time of his father's death.<ref name=":0" /> He was married in 1937 to Mary Regensburg.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1937-12-07 |title=Marriage of Regensburg / Feist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/mount-vernon-argus-marriage-of-regensbur/148439607/ |access-date=2024-06-11 |work=Mount Vernon Argus |pages=10}}</ref> He ran the classical music publishers Century Music, Mercury Music, and [[Associated Music Publishers]].<ref name=":4" /> Leonard was leader of industry trade group [[National Music Publishers' Association|National Music Publishers Association]], and an officer of the [[National Music Council]], the [[National Academy of Popular Music]], and the [[Copyright Society of the U.S.A.|Copyright Society of the United States]].<ref name=":4" /> He led effforts at copyright and royalty legal reforms in the United States.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wage |first=Walter |date=1980-10-29 |title=The Songwriter's Worth |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-the-songwriters-worth/149128907/ |access-date=2024-06-11 |work=Daily News |page=53 (archive p. 190) |pages=}}</ref> He died November 18, 1996.<ref name=":4" />

* Nathan Feist was a publisher and advertising executive. He was a member of his father's firm at the time of its sale to NBC.<ref name=":03">{{Cite news |date=1930-06-22 |title=Obituary for Leo Feist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-obituary-for-leo-feist/148434881/ |access-date=2024-05-31 |work=Daily News |pages=306}}</ref> He was born April 17, 1905 in New York City, and died there December 2, 1965.<ref name=":53">{{Cite news |date=1965-12-04 |title=Obituary for Nathan Feist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/mount-vernon-argus-obituary-for-nathan-f/149130741/ |access-date=2024-06-11 |work=Mount Vernon Argus |pages=2}}</ref> Nathan lived in Mount Vernon for 50 years, and was married to Beatrice Friedman in 1934;<ref>{{Cite news |date=1933-04-24 |title=Marriage of Feist / Friedman |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/mount-vernon-argus-marriage-of-feist-f/149131423/ |access-date=2024-06-11 |work=Mount Vernon Argus |pages=8}}</ref> they had two children, Richard and Marilyn.<ref name=":53" />
* Milton Feist, also known by his Hebrew name, Meir, was a rabbi, scholar, teacher, publisher, and translator of books and opera.<ref name=":233">{{Cite news |date=June 24, 1930 |title=Leo Feist, Music Publishing King, is Dead at Sixty |url=https://www.jta.org/1930/06/24/archive/leo-feist-music-publishing-king-is-dead-at-sixty |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027171430/https://www.jta.org/1930/06/24/archive/leo-feist-music-publishing-king-is-dead-at-sixty |archive-date=October 27, 2019 |access-date=October 27, 2019 |newspaper=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Affelder |first=Paul |date=1954-08-11 |title=Spicy French Comic Work Presented by Punch Opera |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-spicy-french-co/149134047/ |access-date=2024-06-11 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |pages=11}}</ref> He contracted polio when he was four years old, and was an invalid thereafter,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Feist v. Fifth Avenue Bank of New York, 255 App. Div. 324 {{!}} Casetext Search + Citator |url=https://casetext.com/case/feist-v-fifth-avenue-bank-of-new-york |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=casetext.com}}</ref> confined to a wheelchair vfor the rest of his life. Milton was also a member of the firm at the time of its sale to NBC.<ref name=":03" /> Rabbi Meir Feist spent the last four years of his life studying Torah full-time at [[Beth Medrash Govoha]], in Lakewood, NJ.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hertsman |first=Elchanan Yosef |url=https://www.amazon.com/face-that-shone-instigation-outstanding/dp/B0007ATAKY |title=The face that shone: Rabbi Meir Feist |date=1981-01-01 |publisher=[s.n.] |language=English}}</ref> Milton also ran [[Mercury Music]] Corp.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1967-06-15 |title=Selected Short Subjects |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-selected-short/149133499/ |access-date=2024-06-11 |work=Newsday (Suffolk Edition) |pages=82}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1950-05-19 |title=Here and There About the State |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-barre-daily-times-here-and-there-abo/149133669/ |access-date=2024-06-11 |work=The Barre Daily Times |pages=11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1968 |title=ACDA Industry Associate Members Listed |url=https://acda-publications.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20November-December%201968.pdf |journal=The Choral Journal |pages=26}}</ref>

=== Death ===
Feist died at home in Mount Vernon, New York on June 21, 1930<ref name=":0" />

=== Relatives ===
⚫
Leopold Feist had several other well-known relatives in the entertainment industry. His brother, [[Felix F. Feist]] (Jul 15, 1883 – Apr 15, 1936), was a sales executive at [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]. His nephew, [[Felix E. Feist|Felix Ellison Feist]] (Feb 28, 1910 – Sep 2, 1965), was a film and television director. His great-nephew was fantasy author [[Raymond E. Feist]].

⚫
== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=Note}}


== References ==
== References ==
{{Reflist|40em|refs=
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="NYTs 1930 Jun 22">"Leo Feist Dead; Music Publisher," ''[[New York Times]],'' June 22, 1930</ref>
<ref name="NY Clipper 1914 Aug 8">''[[New York Clipper]]'', August 8, 1914, p. 5 (with photo)</ref>
<ref name="NY Clipper 1914 Aug 8">''[[New York Clipper]]'', August 8, 1914, p. 5 (with photo)</ref>
<ref name="NYTs 1920 Aug 4">"Music Publishers Sued Here As Trust," ''[[New York Times]],'' August 4, 1920</ref>
<ref name="NYTs 1920 Aug 4">"Music Publishers Sued Here As Trust," ''[[The New York Times]],'' August 4, 1920</ref>
<ref name="NYTs 1935 Oct 29">"Metro Acquires Leo Feist, Inc.," ''[[New York Times]]'', October 29, 1935</ref>
<ref name="NYTs 1935 Oct 29">"Metro Acquires Leo Feist, Inc.," ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 29, 1935</ref>
<ref name="Evening World 1904 Aug 29">[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1904-08-29/ed-1/seq-5/ "Band and Friends Greet Bridal Pair,"], ''[[Evening World]]'' (Evening Edition), August 29, 1904, pg. 5</ref>
<ref name="Evening World 1904 Aug 29">[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1904-08-29/ed-1/seq-5/ "Band and Friends Greet Bridal Pair,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415125729/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1904-08-29/ed-1/seq-5/ |date=April 15, 2015 }}, ''[[Evening World]]'' (Evening Edition), August 29, 1904, pg. 5</ref>

<ref name="Grove Musicians 1986">''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|The New Grove Dictionary of American Music]]'' (Feist is in Vol. 2 of 4), [[H. Wiley Hitchcock]] & [[Stanley Sadie]] (eds.), London: [[Macmillan Press]] (1986); {{OCLC|13184437}}</ref>
<ref name="Jason 2003">''Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song'' (new ed.), by David Alan Jasen (born 1937), [[New York City|New York]]: [[Routledge]] (2003) (biography contains portrait); {{OCLC|51631299}}</ref>
<ref name="Bio Dictionary of American Music">''Biographical Dictionary of American Music,'' by Charles Eugene Claghorn (1911–2005), [[West Nyack, New York]]: Parker Publishing Co. (1973); {{OCLC|609781}}</ref>
}}
}}

== External links ==
== External links ==
{{commons category}}
{{commonscat}}
{{Archival records|title= Leo Feist collection, 1880-1930|location= [[Music Division, Library of Congress]]|description_URL=https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu015004}}
* [http://international.loc.gov/service/music/eadxmlmusic/eadpdfmusic/mu2005.wp.0008.pdf ''Leo Feist Collection''], [[Library of Congress]], donated in 1977 by Leonard Feist
* [http://www.nypl.org/archives/2547 ''Leonard Feist papers, 1901–1991,''] [[New York Public Library]]
* [http://www.nypl.org/archives/2547 ''Leonard Feist papers, 1901–1991,''] [[New York Public Library]]



{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:1869 births]]
[[Category:1869 births]]
[[Category:1930 deaths]]
[[Category:1930 deaths]]
[[Category:American Jews]]

Revision as of 13:41, 20 August 2024

Leo Feist
Leo Feist
Photo from Music Trade Review, 1922[1]
BornJanuary 3, 1869
DiedJune 21, 1930(1930-06-21) (aged 61)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationExecutive
Spouse
Bessie Meyer
​
(m. 1904)​
Children3
RelativesFelix F. Feist (brother)
Felix E. Feist (nephew)
Raymond E. Feist (great-nephew)

Leopold Feist (January 3, 1869, New York City or Mount Verson, New York[2] – June 21, 1930, Mount Vernon, New York), was a pioneer in the popular music publishing business.[3] In 1897, Feist founded and ran a music publishing firm bearing his name. In the 1920s, at the height of the golden age of popular music, his firm was among the seven largest publishers of popular music in the world.[4][5][6][7] The company used the motto "You can't go wrong, with any FEIST Song."[8]

Career

Feist started his career as a corset salesman, with songwriting as a hobby. He had trouble selling his music to a publisher, so he formed his own publishing house. He was successful in selling his own music through the new venture, and turned it into a full business, Leo Feist, Inc.[9]

Leo Feist, Inc.

K-K-K-Katy, cover of the original publication by Leo Feist in New York, 1918

The first publishing hit was Smokey Mokes in 1895.[2] Feist marketed his publications very aggressively, even by Tin Pan Alley standards. He maintained offices in most major cities, each with a regional manager (in Boston, for instance, his delegate was Billy Lang). Favored employees were rewarded with corporate largesse; in 1914, for instance, selected managers gathered in Atlantic City, where it was said that "money flowed like water."[10] Feist also set up branch offices in several locations abroad, increasing the popularity of American music in Europe and Australia.[2]

As evidence of the size of his firm, Leo Feist, Inc., was one of seven defendants named in a 1920 Sherman antitrust suit brought by the US Justice Department for controlling 80% of the music publishing business.[11] The 7 were Consolidated Music Corporation, Irving Berlin, Inc., Leo Feist, Inc., T.B. Harms & Francis, Day & Hunter, Inc., Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc., Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, Inc., and M. Witmark & Sons, Inc.[12]

"My Blue Heaven," written by Walter Donaldson (music) in collaboration with George Whiting (lyrics), became the biggest song in the history of Leo Feist, Inc. Gene Austin recorded it (Victor 20964), selling over five million copies, and Eddie Cantor plugged it in vaudeville and in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1927. It sold over five million copies of sheet music.[6]

Mergers and reacqusition

Feist bought competitors Balmer & Weber (1907), and the Morse Music Co. (1915).

In 1929, Feist negotiated a merger of his company into the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), along with rival sheet music publisher Carl Fischer Music., which was also a family-owned business.[13][Note 1] The two merged units operated somewhat independently, with the former owners acting as principals and as board members of the new holding company.[13][14] The combined company was capitalized at $6.6 million[15] and did $3.6 million of business annually at the time.[9] Feist died less than a year later, and the two families took their two companies private again less than two years after that, buying them back from NBC.[16]

The company published about 2,000 titles in its founder's lifetime.[2]

In 1935, five years after the death of the founder, and three years after the company was taken private again, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired a controlling interest in the capital stock of Leo Feist, Inc.[17]

In mid-1973, MGM consolidated the offices of its four music publishers, sold Robbins-Feist & Miller (known as Big 3), and Hastings.[18][19][20] The same year, it sold the Big 3 to United Artists.[21][22] In 1981, MGM acquired UA and formed MGM/UA Communications Co.[23] In 1983, MGM/UA sold its music publishing business to CBS Records.[24] CBS then sold the print music arm, Big 3 Music, to Columbia Pictures.[25]

Personal life

In a pseudo-secret ceremony, Feist married Bessie Meyer on June 24, 1904.[26] They had three children: Leonard S. Feist (1911–1996),[3] Nathan Feist (1905–1965), and Milton Feist (1907–1975).

  • Nathan Feist was a publisher and advertising executive. He was a member of his father's firm at the time of its sale to NBC.[29] He was born April 17, 1905 in New York City, and died there December 2, 1965.[30] Nathan lived in Mount Vernon for 50 years, and was married to Beatrice Friedman in 1934;[31] they had two children, Richard and Marilyn.[30]
  • Milton Feist, also known by his Hebrew name, Meir, was a rabbi, scholar, teacher, publisher, and translator of books and opera.[32][33] He contracted polio when he was four years old, and was an invalid thereafter,[34] confined to a wheelchair vfor the rest of his life. Milton was also a member of the firm at the time of its sale to NBC.[29] Rabbi Meir Feist spent the last four years of his life studying Torah full-time at Beth Medrash Govoha, in Lakewood, NJ.[35] Milton also ran Mercury Music Corp.[36][37][38]

Death

Feist died at home in Mount Vernon, New York on June 21, 1930[9]

Relatives

Leopold Feist had several other well-known relatives in the entertainment industry. His brother, Felix F. Feist (Jul 15, 1883 – Apr 15, 1936), was a sales executive at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His nephew, Felix Ellison Feist (Feb 28, 1910 – Sep 2, 1965), was a film and television director. His great-nephew was fantasy author Raymond E. Feist.

Notes

  1. ^ Fischer's obituary indicates that the merger inovolved his company and Harms, which appears to refer to Harms, Inc.. Harms was bought by Warner Brothers in 1929, and not RCA/NBC, and the obituary writer may have confised Harms and Fischer, since they both were merged in separate transactions in 1929.

References

  1. ^ Leo Feist Celebrates 25th Business Anniversary Archived March 11, 2023, at the Wayback Machine Music Trade Review (journal), Vol. 75, No. 13, September 23, 1922, pg. 44
  2. ^ a b c d "Leo Feist Collection - Guides to Special Collections in the Music Division of the Library of Congress" (PDF). Library of Congress. 1999.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Press, The Associated (November 20, 1996). "Leonard Feist, Music Executive, 85". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  4. ^ "Leo Feist Dead; Music Publisher," The New York Times, June 22, 1930
  5. ^ The New Grove Dictionary of American Music (Feist is in Vol. 2 of 4), H. Wiley Hitchcock & Stanley Sadie (eds.), London: Macmillan Press (1986); OCLC 13184437
  6. ^ a b Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song (new ed.), by David Alan Jasen (born 1937), New York: Routledge (2003) (biography contains portrait); OCLC 51631299
  7. ^ Biographical Dictionary of American Music, by Charles Eugene Claghorn (1911–2005), West Nyack, New York: Parker Publishing Co. (1973); OCLC 609781
  8. ^ "Pal of my cradle days : A beautiful, mother waltz ballad".
  9. ^ a b c d "Obituary for Leo Feist". Daily News. June 22, 1930. p. 306. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  10. ^ New York Clipper, August 8, 1914, p. 5 (with photo)
  11. ^ "Music Publishers Sued Here As Trust," The New York Times, August 4, 1920
  12. ^ Jasen, David A. (1988). Tin Pan Alley: the Composers, the Songs, the Performers, and their Times. New York: Donald I. Fine, Inc. p. 35. ISBN 1556110995.
  13. ^ a b "Music Publishers in Huge Combine - Carl Fischer and Leo Feist Concerns are in Merger; NBC Has Part". The Birmingham News. December 15, 1929. p. 83. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  14. ^ Ussher, Bruno David (November 8, 1929). "Music and Musicians". Los Angeles Evening Express. p. 28. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  15. ^ "Leo Feist, Music Publishing King, is Dead at Sixty". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. June 24, 1930. Archived from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  16. ^ "2 MUSIC PUBLISHERS QUIT RADIO MERGER; Carl Fischer, Inc., and Leo Feist, Inc., Effect Transfer of Stock Ownership. PLAN HELD IMPRACTICABLE Firms Had Functioned for 2 Years as Units in Radio Music Company, N.B.C. Subsidiary". The New York Times. January 30, 1932. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  17. ^ "Metro Acquires Leo Feist, Inc.," The New York Times, October 29, 1935
  18. ^ "New Office Unites MGM Music Firms". The Los Angeles Times. June 12, 1973. p. 68. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  19. ^ "Obituary for JAY LEIPZIG". The Santa Fe New Mexican. April 3, 2012. pp. A007. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  20. ^ Gilbert, Justin (June 5, 1940). "Scene On Broadway". The Record. p. 15. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  21. ^ "Big 3 Sold to UA; Plus 1/2 Can. Co". Billboard Magazine. October 27, 1973. p. 3. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  22. ^ "United Artists to distribute MGM films". The San Francisco Examiner. October 19, 1973. p. 46. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  23. ^ International Directory of Company Histories, Volume 25. Detroit: St. James Press. 1999. ISBN 9781558623675. Archived from the original on February 13, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  24. ^ Irv Lichtman (January 8, 1983). "CBS Songs Grows With MGM/UA Deal". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 11, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2019 – via Google Books.
  25. ^ Irv Lichtman (February 12, 1983). "Columbia Pictures To Acquire Big 3". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 11, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2022 – via Google Books.
  26. ^ "Band and Friends Greet Bridal Pair," Archived April 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Evening World (Evening Edition), August 29, 1904, pg. 5
  27. ^ "Marriage of Regensburg / Feist". Mount Vernon Argus. December 7, 1937. p. 10. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  28. ^ Wage, Walter (October 29, 1980). "The Songwriter's Worth". Daily News. p. 53 (archive p. 190). Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  29. ^ a b "Obituary for Leo Feist". Daily News. June 22, 1930. p. 306. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  30. ^ a b "Obituary for Nathan Feist". Mount Vernon Argus. December 4, 1965. p. 2. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  31. ^ "Marriage of Feist / Friedman". Mount Vernon Argus. April 24, 1933. p. 8. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  32. ^ "Leo Feist, Music Publishing King, is Dead at Sixty". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. June 24, 1930. Archived from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  33. ^ Affelder, Paul (August 11, 1954). "Spicy French Comic Work Presented by Punch Opera". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 11. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  34. ^ "Feist v. Fifth Avenue Bank of New York, 255 App. Div. 324 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  35. ^ Hertsman, Elchanan Yosef (January 1, 1981). The face that shone: Rabbi Meir Feist. [s.n.]
  36. ^ "Selected Short Subjects". Newsday (Suffolk Edition). June 15, 1967. p. 82. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  37. ^ "Here and There About the State". The Barre Daily Times. May 19, 1950. p. 11. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  38. ^ "ACDA Industry Associate Members Listed" (PDF). The Choral Journal: 26. 1968.
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