A legend of the American music publishing industry and founder of Carlin Music, Freddy Bienstock, has died, aged 86, after a long illness.
His music publishing career began at the US offices of Chappell & Co, where he started off in the stock room before working his way up to the job of chairman. In 1966 he acquired the catalogue of Belinda Music and set up his own publishing firm, building up that catalogue to over 100,000 songs. That company became Carlin Music, a major publishing outfit that continues to be run by the Bienstock family - his two children working as COO and VP Business there to this day.
During his long publishing career Bienstock worked with numerous leading artists, from Cliff Richard to Ray Davies to James Brown to U2, and also enjoyed a close working relationship with Elvis Presley. The Carlin catalogue now includes classical, country and pop music, and also the rights to several stage musicals, including 'Cabaret'.
Beinstock also served for two decades on the board of the US's National Music Publishers Association. Their chairman, Irwin Robinson, is quoted by Billboard thus: "More than an icon and leader in the music publishing industry, Freddy was a cherished friend and colleague", while the trade body's CEO added: "Freddy's passion for music and commitment to artists and songwriters made him a giant in our industry, and his legacy will not soon be forgotten".