|
Michael Lippman's thirty year career started as an entertainment attorney and included three years as Vice President and General Manager of West Coast Operations for Clive Davis' Arista Records. During that time he observed that record producers and songwriters, artists in their own right, lacked proper career guidance. Lippman left the record company to start a management firm representing select performers and creating a business ensuring that all players in the creative process were protected and properly rewarded. Hailed as an innovator in negotiating entertainment contracts, his advice is often sought after by his colleagues. Michael Lippman's intuitiveness for brokering diverse talents and commitment to the success of a project is renowned and maintains his broad powerbase within the industry.
Lippman Entertainment's unmatched ability to pair clients with up-and-coming and top-name recording artists is reflected in both record sales and critical acclaim. The international clientele includes matchbox twenty and 2000 Album of the Year and Record of the Year Grammy Award winning producer Matt Serletic (Aerosmith, Santana, matchbox twenty). The roster is bolstered by Nellee Hooper, UK Producer of the Year (U2, Madonna, Smashing Pumpkins, No Doubt, Gwen Stefani), Billboard Country Music Producer of the Year and Grammy nominee James Stroud (Clint Black, Tim McGraw). Clients have worked with such disparate performers as Dr. Dre, R. Kelly, 3 Doors Down, Nickelback, Pearl Jam and Godsmack as well as Macy Gray, Kid Rock, and Christina Aguilera - three of the five 2000 Grammy nominees for Best New Artist.
While maintaining a strong foothold behind the scenes, Lippman has also been integral in the success of hand-picked recording artists. In the 1970s he guided David Bowie from Ziggy Stardust to international superstar. In the 1980s he led Melissa Manchester to the top of the charts (Grammy Award in hand) and catapulted George Michael to fame during the "Faith" album and tour. Lippman's hallmark can also be seen in the blockbuster soundtracks for Top Gun, Pretty Woman, Space Jam, Romeo & Juliet, Batman Forever and, most recently, the 1 album Armageddon (and its corresponding 1 single).
His more recent success story is matchbox twenty (whose lead singer, Rob Thomas, won three Grammys in 2000 for his collaboration with rock legend Carlos Santana and was recently named Songwriter of the Year by Billboard). matchbox twenty's debut album, "Yourself or Someone Like You," has sold in excess of 13 million copies worldwide and received multiple nominations and accolades from every major awards organization, including being named "Best New Band" by Rolling Stone and NARM. Their second opus, "mad season by matchbox twenty," was released in May 2000 and has thus far sold more than 4 million copies worldwide. This album spawned the 1 Billboard Hot 100 song "Bent" and current chart topper "If You're Gone." They followed this album with “MORE THAN YOU THINK YOU ARE,” matchbox twenty’s third and most recent album. It was released in November 2002 and debuted at 6 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The album has been certified RIAA quadruple platinum. The album has thus far yielded three radio smashes: “Disease,” “Unwell,” and “Bright Lights.” matchbox was named the 1 Adult Top 40 and 1 Modern AC Artist of 2003, with “Unwell” becoming the band’s longest-running 1 single to date. Not only was “Unwell” the 1 most-played song of the year at both Adult Top 40 and Hot AC radio nationwide, but it was the overall 2 song of 2003 across all radio formats. matchbox has earned the distinction of having had more 1 hits and spending more weeks at 1 on both the national Modern AC and Adult Top 40 charts than any other artist in history.
Lippman continued this attack with the release of Rob Thomas’ debut album …Something to Be, which was the first ever dual disc to debut 1 as well as the first album from a singer coming out of a band to debut at 1. The album is already Platinum. Lippman also used this format to launch the career of singer/songwriter Anna Nalick who’s debut cd (Columbia) has already reached Gold status.
If that’s not enough Lippman has reunited with former client George Michael and is planning a worldwide tour in 2006.
One of Lippman Entertainment's founding clients is legendary songwriter Bernie Taupin. Best known for his thirty-year collaboration with Elton John, Taupin has been lauded countless times as the premiere lyricist in modern music. Michael Lippman changed the course of the music business when he helped to negotiate Bernie and Elton's historic 1992 songwriting contract with Warner/Chappell Music. The $39 million they received strictly for licensing rights (they still maintain ownership of their copyrights) remains the largest cash songwriting advance in music publishing history.
In the past couple of years, Lippman has positioned his clients at the forefront of the digital revolution. For the release of the matchbox twenty album, Lippman Entertainment brokered the largest cross promotion in history between an entertainment property and America Online. Within days of the announced merger between AOL and Time Warner (the record label's corporate parent), Lippman approached the two companies with an historic opportunity for synergy. The agreement, which put matchbox twenty branded versions of AOL software on the first 1.5 million records pressed, lead to an unprecedented five weeks of top level promotion for "mad season" across all AOL properties. The end result was a 1 debut on the Internet Sales chart, extensive demographic knowledge about a diverse fan base, and increased traffic to the band's acclaimed web site Additionally, the company has partnered its producer clients with new media companies designed to discover and nurture new talent.
|
