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Allen Klein

Biography

Allen Klein (December 18, 1931 – July 4, 2009) was an American businessman whose aggressive negotiation tactics affected industry standards for compensating recording artists. He founded ABKCO Music & Records Incorporated. Klein increased profits for his musician clients by negotiating new record company contracts. He first achieved monetary and contractual gains for Buddy Knox and Jimmy Bowen, one-hit rockabillies of the late 1950s. He then managed Sam Cooke before later becoming the manager of both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones simultaneously, along with many other artists. This made him one of the most powerful individuals in the music industry during his era. Rather than offering financial advice and maximizing his clients' income as a business manager normally would, Klein set up what he called "buy/sell agreements". Through these agreements, a company that Klein owned became an intermediary between his client and the record label, owning the rights to the music, financing the recording and production of the music, selling them to record labels to manufacture and distribute the music, and subsequently paying royalties and cash advances to the client. Although Klein greatly increased his clients' incomes, he also enriched himself, sometimes without his clients' knowledge. The Rolling Stones' $1.25 million advance from the Decca Records label in 1965, for example, was deposited into a company that Klein had established, and the fine print of the contract did not require Klein to release it for 20 years. Klein's involvement with both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones would lead to years of litigation. The Rolling Stones in particular accused Klein of withholding royalty payments, stealing the publishing rights to their songs, and neglecting to pay their taxes for five years, thereby necessitating their French "exile" in 1971. After years of pursuit by the IRS, Klein was convicted of the misdemeanor charge of making a false statement on his 1972 tax return,

Bio from Wikipedia

Discography

Records they worked on — most-collected first.

Credited work

22 releases · 8 albums · active 1971–2025

  • Other credits · 15
  • Performance · 5
  • Production · 2

Studios: Abbey Road Studios · Record Plant, N.Y.C. · The Hix Factory · Queen Elizabeth Hotel

Frequent collaborators

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