American music publisher
Matthew Storrs Pincus
[1] is an American music publisher and investor who founded
Songs Music Publishing .
[2] He is also the current bassist of the band
New York City Hardcore Band Judge .
[3]
Early life and education
Pincus is the son of
Lionel Pincus , co-founder and chairman of private equity firm
Warburg Pincus . His mother,
Suzanne Storrs , was
Miss Utah in 1955 and a television actress, who was married to Lionel Pincus until her death in 1995. He is a graduate of
Columbia University , where he received his
B.A. in 1995 and
M.B.A. in 2002.
[1]
[2]
[4]
[5] He has a brother, Henry Pincus, who is an actor and also attended Columbia.
[6]
[7]
[8]
Career
At age 17, he joined the
New York hardcore band
Judge , where he played bass.
[3]
[9]
In college, Pincus interned at various
record labels , including
EMI and
Jive Records . He was also a campus representative for
Atlantic Records and worked as an assistant editor at the
New York magazine after college.
[10]
Having graduated from
Columbia Business School , Pincus worked at
EMI as a strategy associate. In 2004, he invested $5 million of his own money into
Songs Music Publishing with
Ron Perry , a fellow EMI alum. The two initially targeted
Christian rock and
hard rock musicians before looking into more commercial acts including
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists and
Conor Oberst .
[11] Under Pincus' leadership, the label represented a clientele of 300 artists, including chart-topping musicians such as
Lorde ,
Diplo , and
The Weeknd .
[12]
[13]
In 2015, he testified before the
United States Senate to demand a revamp of the country's system for calculating songwriter royalties and warned against the encroachment of
Big Tech on the music publishing industry.
[14]
[15]
[16] In a partnership with
Barry Weiss , Pincus co-founded a new independent label, RECORDS.
[17]
In 2017, Pincus and Perry were named to the
Billboard magazine's Power 100 list, which ranks the most influential businesspeople in the music industry.
[18] He sold the company in December 2017 for $160 million to
Kobalt Music Group .
[19]
In 2018, Pincus joined
LionTree as executive-in-residence and took up an advisory role at
Snap Inc.
[20]
He has been a member of the board of directors of the
National Music Publishers' Association , the
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers ,
Songwriters Hall of Fame , the financial services startup HIFI,
[21]
[22] and the music creation platform
Splice , of which he is also an investor.
[2]
[23]
[24]
[25]
Personal life
Pincus is married to Sarah Min, former managing editor of
Domino , a shopping publication of
Condé Nast .
[1]
After his father died, he and his brother sued
Princess Firyal , accusing her of taking advantage of their father's deteriorating mental and physical state by spending extravagant sums to decorate a Multi-Million dollar,14-room duplex in the
Pierre Hotel .
[6]
[26]
[27]
References
^
a
b
c
"Sarah Min and Matthew Pincus" . The New York Times . 2005-09-25.
ISSN
0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^
a
b
c
"Matt Pincus" . National Music Publishers’ Association . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^
a
b
"JUDGE's Matt Pincus Is Getting Old Punk and Hardcore Bands Paid for Their Song Streams, Finally" . www.vice.com . 4 February 2016. Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^ Fabrikant, Geraldine (2009-10-12).
"Lionel Pincus, Who Helped Bring Investors to Private Equity, Dies at 78" . The New York Times .
ISSN
0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^ School, Columbia Business (2017-10-25).
"Second Century Circle" . Alumni . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^
a
b Durkin, Erin.
"Wall St. titan Lionel Pincus dies; estate feud rages between two sons and Jordanian princess" . nydailynews.com . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^
"Henry Pincus | Lionel Pincus | 311 West 4th Street" . The Real Deal New York . 2014-07-08. Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^
"Columbia Spectator 8 March 1991 — Columbia Spectator" . spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^ Kamiński, Karol (2012-07-13).
"JUDGE interviewed by Double Cross Zine" . IDIOTEQ.com . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^
"Matt Pincus" . National Museum of American History . 2018-04-10. Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^
"Meet the Banking Scion Who Helped Lorde Top the Music Charts" . BloombergQuint . 30 June 2017. Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^ Aswad, Shirley Halperin, Jem; Halperin, Shirley; Aswad, Jem (2017-12-08).
"Songs Music Publishing Sold to Kobalt for $150 Million" . Variety . Retrieved 2021-08-28 . {{
cite web }}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link )
^
"SONGS Music Publishing Signs Worldwide Co-Publishing Deal with The Weeknd" . Billboard . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^ Pincus, Matt (March 10, 2015).
" "How Much for a Song?: The Antitrust Decrees that Govern the Market for Music" " (PDF) . Senate Judiciary Committee . Retrieved August 27, 2021 .
^ Pincus, Matt (2015-03-13).
"It's Time for Real Transparency in Digital Music (Guest Blog)" . TheWrap . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^
"SONGS Music CEO Matt Pincus: Why Music Publishing's Two-Class System Could Spell the End for New Indie Firms" . Billboard . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^ Christman, Ed (February 17, 2015).
"Barry Weiss To Join Forces With SONGS Publishing On New Label" . Billboard . Retrieved June 29, 2018 .
^
"No. 92: Matt Pincus & Ron Perry | Power 100" . Billboard . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^ Sisario, Ben (2017-12-08).
"Songs, Music Publisher of Lorde and Diplo, Bought by Kobalt" . The New York Times .
ISSN
0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^
"SONGS Founder Matt Pincus Joins Snapchat & LionTree" . Billboard . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^
"How Music's Business Managers Are Tracking Revenue -- And Getting Their Artists Bi-Weekly Paychecks" . Billboard . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^
"Matt Pincus-backed HIFI launches to help artists 'actually see what they're earning – and what they're worth' " . Music Business Worldwide . 2020-07-01. Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^
"The Songwriters Hall of Fame Announces Newly Elected Board of Directors | Songwriters Hall of Fame" . www.songhall.org . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^
"Music-making platform Splice raises $57.5m, with ex-SONGS boss Matt Pincus backing company" . Music Business Worldwide . 2019-03-20. Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^ Shaw, Lucas (21 February 2021).
"Want to Make a Hit Record From Your Bedroom? Ask Splice" . Bloomberg . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
^
"Lionel Pincus Passes Away But His Sons and Princess Continue to Duke It Out in Court" . Vanity Fair . 2009-10-12. Retrieved 2021-08-29 .
^
"PRINCESS & PLEA: STOP TAKING OUR DAD'S MILLIONS!" . New York Post . 2009-08-05. Retrieved 2021-08-29 .