Avatar photo

David Kronemyer

Mr. David Kronemyer started his career in the music business playing 12-string electric guitar in a folk rock band. Lacking sufficient talent to continue as a performer he began to manage bands and promote shows. He formerly was Vice President of Capitol Records and Senior Vice President of Atlantic Records. Segueing to the movie business he became President of Gold Circle Films and then President of Cerberus Films. He currently is producing records and directing independent movies, none of which have much commercial potential.

5 Comments

  1. Avatar photo Ed Schmid
    May 18, 2009 @ 8:41 PM PDT

    Mr. K.: Your blogs are very interesting. One question with regard to the Beatles sales article. Why is it that Capitol takes forever to update the Beatles’ indidivdual and group sales figures to the RIAA, both singles and LP’s? Is that tied directly to the lawsuits? Since these updates rarely occur, I have estimated potential group LP sales unreported to the RIAA of somewhere between 10 and 15 million, perhaps somewhat less on the singles. Who is in charge of this responsibility at Capitol? EAS

  2. Avatar photo David
    May 18, 2009 @ 10:11 PM PDT

    reply by author of the article:

    Hi Ed thanks for the note, while I haven’t been at Capitol since the mid-1990s I suspect the answer to you question is that *nobody* there updates RIAA sales figures. It is one of those overhead tasks that doesn’t lead to sales, record companies have been ditching these and similar activities for several years now because they couldn’t care less. In my opinion the only reason why current management still is in place at EMI is because if the lending consortium foreclosed they wouldn’t know what to do with it. One of the great tragedies of modern business is that firms no longer care about their corporate history.

  3. Avatar photo Jake
    Oct 27, 2009 @ 6:23 PM PDT

    Excellent information! Just one small detail regarding the “Hey Jude” album which you note was released 2/70 – the name of the album at the time of its release, at least in the U.S., was “The Beatles Again,” later changed to “Hey Jude.”

  4. Avatar photo Andy
    Dec 2, 2009 @ 3:13 PM PST

    David, I don’t understand where you get the info for the following paragraph (which isn’t to say you’re wrong, just that I don’t understand):
    “Masters recorded by the Beatles pursuant to the 1967 agreement and distributed by Capitol include “Help,” “Yesterday,” “We Can Work It Out,” “Nowhere Man” and “Eleanor Rigby.””

    I’ve looked at the contracts posted on Deconstructing Pop Culture, and they show that EMI exercised its option to extend the original ’62 contract until June 5, 66. All of the songs you mention above, with the exception of Eleanor Rigby, were recorded and released prior to that date, so I’d think they would fall under the 62 contract rather than the 67 contract.
    However, I notice that all the songs you list were first released by Capitol in LP form after June 5, 66 but before the 67 contract, so maybe that is the basis for your statement? But if so, why would the release of a song in single form not count for the contract, but its release in LP form would?
    Help a Beatles fanatic understand this minutiae!

  5. Avatar photo James
    Jun 23, 2012 @ 11:04 AM PDT

    This is great info, David! I also appreciate the contract links on deconstructinpopculture.

    Do you have info on McCartney’s solo contracts with Capitol/EMI in the 70s? McCartney apparently signed at least one new contract with Capitol (1975?) before the Beatles contract ran out in 1976.

    After reading your history here, it makes me wonder why Capitol would give him a new contract when they could have held him to the terms of the existing Beatles agreements a little longer. Probably wanted to keep him happy since he had had such huge solo success …