Apple reveals US office plans

Kass reveals U.S. office plans

Apple is planning a major assault on the US market this year and sees the U.S. market as its major source of future revenue. Plans for Apple’s U.S. operations were exclusively revealed by Apple chief Ron Kass, who will be visiting the States shortly to set up an office in Los Angeles.

“We are going into the U.S. in exactly the same way as American companies are establishing themselves in Europe. Our American company will not just be a branch of the London office, but a fully operational record and publishing company, one hundred per cent involved in the U.S. market and with an entirely American image,” explained Kass.

“None of the major European record companies seems to have adopted this technique of exploiting the U.S. market; but we intend to, because America is a massive potential source of revenue. In terms of available talent and record sales, America dominates the world. More than sixty per cent of the sales of the Mary Hopkin single were achieved in the U.S.”

Kass also pointed out that with himself as head of the company, with U.S. singer James Taylor, and with the fact that Jackie Lomax was recorded by George Harrison in Los Angeles, the company already has a strong American flavour. In addition, an American, Mike O’Connor, is being appointed professional manager of Apple’s U.S. publishing office.

Apple will be represented in Los Angeles by the Apple Music Publishing Co. (ASCAP), which will be the counterpart of the Apple Music Publishing Co. in Britain, and by Python Music (BMI) which will be principally for American writers.

Apple is seeking premises in Los Angeles to house a basic staff of six with room for expansion, and has in mind a house similar to the £450,000 London headquarters in Savile Row. Kass will also be looking for a residence to accommodate commuting Beatles — both Paul McCartney and George Harrison have recently expressed an intention to spend six months of each year in the States.

Mike O’Connor, a former member of the Subterraneans group, has been acting as temporary professional manager with Apple in London while learning the operation and Apple is currently seeking a replacement for him in London to enable him to take up the U.S. appointment.

As a preliminary step in launching the U.S. operation, Apple’s A and R man Peter Asher arrives in America on Saturday on a two-month visit during which he will study the U.S. music scene, sign talent and produce recordings. He will also be looking for U.S. producers to handle new American talent signed by the company. During his stay Asher will be based at the Capitol building.

Said Kass: “We are already firmly established as a fair-sized publisher in America because Apple has five songs (those of George Harrison and Ringo) on the Beatles album. And with sales of the album approaching three million this gives us an income of £125,000 before we start.” (The John Lennon–Paul McCartney songs on the album are published by Northern Songs to which Lennon and McCartney are contracted until 1973.)

Kass said that Apple’s U.S. publishing operation would represent a number of British composer-publishers in the States, including John Gilbert, producer of the British group Family.

“The U.S. publishing company will become bigger than the U.K. company in time,” said Kass. Another new Apple development this year will be the introduction of “disposable albums”, retailing at around 15 shillings, which will be record equivalents of paper back books.

Kass said: “The John Lennon–Yoko Ono album would have been the first in this series if we had thought of it earlier. The idea arose from a meeting with Paul, George and John. They want to produce cheap albums of esoteric material covering a wide range of music and the spoken word. We’ll be including such things as interviews with Daniel Cohen-Bendit and Picasso. We have approached Norman Mailer and Eldridge Cleaver, and writer Michael McClure will be recording an album of his own ideas for the series.

“The albums will have simple black and white art work and will be available on subscription, like a magazine. This series has tremendous possibilities. We would not want to talk to major record companies; we often talk to us. The Beatles themselves will be featured in discussion on some records. It will be a sort of underground label, but it will not be enclosed and obscure — it will be open to all.”

Referring to the Lennon–Yoko Ono album, Two Virgins, Kass said that in addition to U.S. distribution by Tetragrammaton, Apple had secured distribution in Holland through Negram–Delta, in France through Disc’AZ and in Israel and the Far East and Orient. “Now I’m planning to make it available to the whole world on a mail order basis,” he added.

Meanwhile the Beatles have finally agreed to make a personal appearance on January 18 in a show which will be filmed for TV transmission. It will be the Beatles’ first public appearance since August 1966 in San Francisco and the first in Britain since May 1966.

The show, before an invited audience, will be in the London area and will feature many new songs. (Fourteen new tracks were left over from the double album.) There is also a strong possibility that Apple will issue a live album of the show. Production will be by Michael Lindsay-Hogg.

Summing up on Apple’s activity to date, Kass said: “We started off a little idealistically and some of the ideas we had just weren’t practical. But out of it all has come a very good situation and we have achieved much more than was anticipated. It was on August 25 that we put out our first four releases — and four months later we are a fully functional record and publishing company with international representation and distribution. It proves that you don’t have to be orthodox in this business in order to succeed.”

From Record Retailer – January 1, 1969