Sony Music Entertainment, Inc.

File:SonyMusic.png
Type	Subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America
Industry	Music & entertainment
Genre	Various
Founded	1929 (as American Record Corporation (ARC)) 1938 (as Columbia/CBS Records) 1991 (as SME) 2004 (as Sony BMG) 2008 (as SME)
Headquarters	550 Madison Avenue New York, New York, United States
Key people	Doug Morris: Chairman & CEO Kevin Kelleher: CFO Clive Davis: Chief Creative Officer
Products	Music & entertainment
Revenue	US$ 5,672 million (FY 2010)[1][2]
Operating income	US$ 469 million (2010)[2][1]
Owner(s)	Sony
Parent	Sony Corporation of America
Website	sonymusic.com

Sony Music Entertainment (SME or Sony Music) is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.

History[link]

Pre-history[link]

1929-1938: American Record Corporation[link]

The company, which evolved into Sony Music, was founded in 1929 as the American Record Corporation (ARC) through the merger of several smaller record companies.^[3] In the depths of the Great Depression, the Columbia Phonograph Company (founded in 1888) in the U.S. (including its Okeh Records subsidiary) was acquired by ARC in 1934.

1938-1991: Columbia/CBS Records[link]

ARC was acquired in 1938 by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (which itself had been formed by the Columbia Phonograph Company, but then sold off). The Columbia Phonograph Company had international subsidiaries and affiliates such as the Columbia Graphophone Company in the United Kingdom, but they were sold off prior to CBS acquiring American Columbia. RCA Victor Records executive Ted Wallerstein convinced CBS head William S. Paley to buy ARC and Paley made Wallerstein head of the newly acquired record company.^[4][5] CBS made Columbia its flagship label with Okeh its subsidiary label while deemphasizing ARC's other labels. This allowed ARC's leased labels Brunswick Records and Vocalion Records to revert to former owner Warner Bros. which sold the labels to Decca Records. Wallerstein restored Columbia's status as a leading record company and spearheaded the successful introduction of the long playing (LP) record before he retired as Columbia's chairman in 1951. James Conkling then became head of Columbia Records.^[6] Also in 1951, Columbia severed its ties with the EMI-owned record label of the same name and began a distribution deal with Philips Records. Okeh Records continued to be distributed by EMI on the Columbia label.

CBS founded Epic Records in 1953. In 1956, Conkling left Columbia and Goddard Lieberson began the first of two stints as head of the record company.^[6] In 1958, CBS founded another label, Date Records, which initially issued rockabilly music.^[7]

In 1960, Columbia/CBS began negotiations with its main international distributor Philips Records with the goal of CBS starting its own international record company.^[8] Philips' acquisition of Mercury Records in the US in 1961 paved the way for CBS to start its own global record company.^[9] CBS only had the rights to the Columbia name in North America. Therefore the international arm founded in 1961 and launched in 1962 utilized the "CBS Records" name only with Philips Records distributing the label in Europe.^[10] CBS' Mexican record company, Discos Columbia, was renamed Discos CBS by 1963.^[11]

In 1964, CBS established its own UK distribution with the acquisition of Oriole Records.^[12] EMI continued to distribute Epic and Okeh label material on the Columbia label in the UK until the distribution deal with EMI expired in 1968 when CBS took over distribution directly.^[13]

In 1966, CBS reorganized its corporate structure which made CBS Records a separate unit of CBS run by Clive Davis.^[14]

Also in 1966, the Date subsidiary label was repurposed mainly for the soul music outlet. This label released the first string of hits for Peaches & Herb. Date's biggest success was Time Of The Season by The Zombies, peaking at #2 in 1969. The label was discontinued in 1972.

Epic distributed Ode Records between 1967 and 1969 and between 1976 and 1979.

In March 1968, CBS and Sony formed CBS/Sony Records, a Japanese business joint venture.^[15] With Sony being one of the developers behind the compact disc digital music media, a compact disc production plant was constructed in Japan under the joint venture, allowing CBS to begin supplying some of the first compact disc releases for the American market in 1983.^[16]

In 1970 CBS Records revived the Embassy Records imprint in UK and Europe, which had been defunct since CBS had taken control of Embassy's parent company, Oriole, in 1964. The purpose of the revived Embassy imprint was to release budget reissues of albums that had originally been released in the United States on Columbia Records (or its subsidiaries).^[17] Many albums, by artists as diverse as Andy Williams, Johnny Cash, Barbra Streisand, The Byrds, Tammy Wynette, Laura Nyro and Sly & the Family Stone were issued on Embassy,^[18] before the label was once again discontinued in 1980.^[19]

The CBS Records Group was led very successfully by Clive Davis until his shock dismissal in 1972, after it was discovered that Davis has used CBS funds to finance his personal life, including an expensive bar mitzvah party for his son. He was replaced first by former head Goddard Lieberson, then in 1975 by the colourful and controversial lawyer Walter Yetnikoff, who led the company until 1990.

In the 1980s to early 90's there was a CBS imprint label in the US known as CBS Associated Records. Tony Martell, veteran CBS and Epic Records A&R Vice President was head of this label and signed artists including Ozzy Osbourne, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Electric Light Orchestra, Joan Jett, and Henry Lee Summer. This label was a part of (Epic/Portrait/Associated) wing of sub labels at CBS which shared the same national and regional staff as the rest of Epic Records and was a part of the full CBS Records worldwide distribution system.

By 1987, CBS was the only "big three" American TV network to have a co-owned record company. ABC had sold its record division to MCA Records in 1979, and in 1986, NBC's parent company RCA was sold to General Electric, who then sold off all other RCA units, including the record division (which was bought by Ariola Records, later known as BMG).

On November 17, 1987, the Sony Corporation of America acquired CBS Records, which hosted such act as Michael Jackson, for US$2 billion. CBS Inc., now CBS Corporation, retained the rights to the CBS name for music recordings but granted Sony a temporary license to use the CBS name. In 1990, CBS Records renamed the CBS Masterworks classical music label to Sony Classical Records. CBS Corporation founded a new CBS Records in 2006.

1991-2004: Birth of Sony Music Entertainment[link]

550 Madison Avenue, headquarters of Sony Music

Sony renamed the record company Sony Music Entertainment (SME) on January 1, 1991, fulfilling the terms set under the 1988 buyout, which granted only a transitional license to the CBS trademark.^[20] The CBS Associated label was renamed Epic Associated.^[21] Also on January 1, 1991, to replace the CBS label, Sony reintroduced the Columbia label worldwide, which it previously held in the United States and Canada only, after it acquired the international rights to the trademark from EMI in 1990.^[20] Japan is the only country where Sony does not have rights to the Columbia name as it is controlled by Nippon Columbia, an unrelated company. Thus, until this day, Sony Music Japan does not use the Columbia trademark for Columbia label recordings from outside Japan which are issued in Japan. The Columbia Records trademark was also controlled in Spain by another company, Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG), which Sony Music subsequently obtained through the 2004 merger with, and later through the 2008 buyout of, BMG.

2004-2008: Sony BMG: Joint venture with Bertelsmann[link]

In August 2004, Sony entered into a 50-50 joint venture with Bertelsmann by merging Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) to form Sony BMG Music Entertainment. BMG can trace its ancestry to Berliner Gramophone. However Sony continued to operate its Japanese music business independently from Sony BMG (while BMG Japan was made part of the merger).

The merger made Columbia and Epic sister labels to RCA Records, which, as mentioned before, was once owned by RCA which also owned CBS rival NBC. It also started the process of bringing BMG's Arista Records back under common ownership with its former parent Columbia Pictures, a Sony division since 1989. It also brought Arista founder Clive Davis back into the fold. Davis is still with Sony Music as Chief Creative Officer.

2008-2011: Return to Sony Music Entertainment[link]

Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann announced on August 5, 2008 that Sony agreed to acquire Bertelsmann's 50% stake in Sony BMG. Sony completed its acquisition of Bertelsmann's 50% stake in the companies' joint venture on October 1, 2008.^[22] The company, once again named Sony Music Entertainment Inc. (SME), became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation through its US subsidiary Sony Corporation of America. The last few albums to feature a Sony BMG logo were I Am... Sasha Fierce by Beyoncé, Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits by Christina Aguilera, and Safe Trip Home by Dido. A temporary logo was unveiled beginning December 1, 2008. The present logo was unveiled in March 2009.

On July 1, 2009, Sony Music Entertainment and IODA announced their global strategic partnership to leverage combined worldwide online retail distribution networks and complementary technologies to support independent labels and music rightsholders.^[23][24]

2011-present: Leadership changes & restructuring[link]

Doug Morris became CEO of Sony Music Entertainment in 2011

RCA/Jive Label Group CEO Barry Weiss left the company in March 2011 to become the new CEO of Island Def Jam & Universal Republic, which are both part of Universal Music Group. Weiss was the RCA/Jive Label Group CEO since 2008 and was head of Jive Records since 1991.

Doug Morris, who has head of Warner Music, then Universal Music, became Chairman and CEO of the company on July 1, 2011.^[25] Sony Music underwent a restructuring after Morris' arrival. He was joined by L.A. Reid who became the Chairman & CEO of Epic Records. Under Reid, multiple artists from the Jive half of the former RCA/Jive Label Group moved to Epic.^[26][27][28] Peter Edge became the new CEO of the RCA Records.^{[29][30][31][32]} The RCA Music Group closed down Arista, J Records and Jive Records in October 2011, with the artists from those labels being moved to RCA Records.^[33][34]

On the night of 8 August 2011, the Sony music distribution centre in Enfield, London was destroyed in an arson attack during the 2011 England riots.^[35]

On October 11, 2011, Doug Morris announced that Mel Lewinter had been named Executive Vice President of Label Strategy. Lewinter previously served as Chairman & CEO of Universal Motown Republic Group.^[36] In January 2012, Dennis Kooker was named President of Global Digital Business & US Sales. ^[37]

As of 2012 a Sony/ATV led consortium was in the process of trying to acquire EMI Music Publishing. In March 2012 the offered concessions in order to win EU approval for the acquisition. ^[38] The deal won EU approval in April 2012. ^[39]

List of Sony Music Entertainment labels[link]

Further information: List of Sony Music Entertainment labels

• Columbia Records
• Epic Records
• RCA Records
• Sony Music Nashville
• Provident Label Group
• Verity Gospel Music Group
• Sony Music Latin
• Sony Masterworks
• Legacy Recordings
• Columbia Records UK
• RCA Label Group (UK)
• Syco Music (joint deal)
• RED Distribution
• JG3 Records

Previously affiliated labels[link]

• Def Jam Recordings (1985–1993) (now part of Universal Music Group under The Island Def Jam Music Group)
• Loud Records (1999–2002) (now part of Universal Music Group under SRC Records)
• Chaos Recordings (1993–1995)
• The Work Group (1995–2000)
• Date Records
• Alaska Music Publishing

List of Sony Music Entertainment artists[link]

Further information: List of Sony Music artists

See also[link]

	Music portal
	Companies portal

• Sony BMG
• Sony/ATV Music Publishing
• Sony Music Entertainment Japan
• Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal
• List of record labels

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Yahoo! – Sony Music Entertainment Company Profile
• Sony Music Entertainment's channel on YouTube
• Sony Music Entertainment at the Internet Movie Database

v t e Sony Corporation Primary businesses Sony Corporation (electronics & holding of the Sony group) · Sony Music Entertainment (music) · Sony Pictures Entertainment (motion pictures and television) · Sony Computer Entertainment (video games) · Sony Financial Holdings (financial services; 60%) · Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation Technologies and brands α · Betacam · Blu-ray · BRAVIA · CD · Cyber-shot · Dash · Dream Machine · DVD · Handycam · HDCAM/HDCAM-SR · LocationFree · Memory Stick · MiniDisc · MiniDV · mylo · Reader · S/PDIF · SDDS · SXRD · Sony Tablet · UMD · VAIO · Video8/Hi8/Digital8 · Walkman · Walkman Phones · XDCAM · Xplōd · HMZ-T1 Historical products AIBO · CV-2000 · DAT · Betamax · Sony CLIÉ · Discman · JumboTron · Lissa · Mavica · NEWS · Qualia · Rolly · TR-55 · Trinitron · U-matic · Watchman · WEGA Electronics Sony EMCS · Sony Electronics (subsidiary in the US) · Sony Creative Software · Sony Mobile Communications  · S-LCD (50% minus 1 share) · Sony Mobile Display · Sony Optiarc · Sharp Display Products (7%) · Aiwa (former) Sony Music Entertainment Sony/ATV Music Publishing (50%) · Columbia Records · Epic Records · RCA Records · Sony Music Nashville (Arista Nashville, BNA Records, Columbia Nashville, RCA Records Nashville) · Provident Label Group · Verity Gospel Music Group · Sony Music Latin · Sony Masterworks  · Legacy Recordings  · RED Distribution  · IODA  · Syco Music  · Syco TV  · Syco Film  · Sony Music Australia · Sony Music Japan  · Gracenote · Aniplex · A-1 Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group (Columbia Pictures · Sony Pictures Classics · Screen Gems · TriStar Pictures · Triumph Films) · Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (Destination Films · Stage 6 Films · Affirm Films) · Sony Pictures Television Group (Adelaide Productions · Culver Entertainment · Embassy Row · 2waytraffic · Lean-M  · Gogglebox Entertainment · Victory Television · Silver River Productions · Starling · Huaso · Floresta · Teleset) Sony Pictures Home Entertainment · Sony Wonder · Sony Pictures Family Entertainment Group · Sony Pictures Digital (Sony Pictures Imageworks · Sony Pictures Animation · Sony Pictures Mobile) · Sony Pictures Studios · Sony Pictures Consumer Marketing (Sony Pictures Consumer Products · Sony Pictures Loot) U.S. networks Sony Movie Channel · GSN (40%), joint venture with DirecTV · FEARnet HD (joint venture with Comcast and Lionsgate) · 3net (joint venture with Discovery Communications and IMAX) International networks Sony Entertainment Television (Asia, South East Asia, India, Latin America, South Africa, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Baltic and United Kingdom) · AXN · AXN HD · AXN HD+1 · AXN Asia · AXN India · AXN Pakistan · AXN White · AXN Crime · AXN Black · AXN Mystery · AXN Sci Fi · AXN Spin · Sony Aath · Multi Screen Media · Animax · Animax Asia · Animax India · Animax Pakistan · Animax Korea · Animax Eastern Europe · BeTV · Sony Spin · SET One · SET Max · Sony SIX · Sony MIX · SET PIX · SAB TV · Men&Movies · Movies4Men Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Online Entertainment · PlayStation · PSP · PlayStation Vita · Cellius (49%) · Square Enix (8.25%) · Sony Imagesoft (defunct) Online distribution platforms Sony Entertainment Network (Music Unlimited · Video Unlimited · PlayStation Network) · FEARnet · The Minisode Network · Crackle Financial services Sony Financial Holdings · Sony Life Insurance · Sony Assurance · Sony Bank · Sony Bank Securities Other businesses So-net Entertainment · Sony Broadcast & Professional Research Laboratories · Sony Sendai Other assets Sony Corporation of America (umbrella company in the US) · Other subsidiaries Joint ventures Sony/ATV · FeliCa Networks · Vevo · Cellius (49%) · Sharp Display Products (7.04%) Key personnel Kazuo Hirai · Masaru Ibuka · Nobuyuki Idei · Yasuo Kuroki · Ken Kutaragi · Michael Lynton · Akio Morita · Norio Ohga · Amy Pascal · Howard Stringer  · Nicole Seligman Category ·  Commons ·  Wikinews

v t e Music industry Genres Avant-garde · Blues · Contemporary R&B · Country · Crossover · Dance · Drum and bass · Easy listening · Electronica · Experimental · Folk · Funk · Gospel · Hip hop · Instrumental · Jazz · Latin · Motown · New age · Operatic pop · Pop · Reggae · Rock · Soul · Soundtrack · World Sectors and roles Album cover design · Artists and repertoire (A&R) · Distribution · Entertainment law · Music education · Music executive · Music journalism · Music publisher · Music venue · Musical instruments · Promotion · Radio promotion · Record label · Record shop · Road crew · Talent manager · Tour promoter Production Arrangement · Record producer · Recording artist · Session musician · Songwriter · Sound engineer Record labels Major: EMI · Sony Music Entertainment · Universal Music Group · Warner Music Group · Independent: Independent UK record labels Release formats Album · Extended play (EP)/Mini album · Single Awards American Music Award · ARIA Music Awards · Billboard Music Awards · Brit Awards · Choice Music Prize · Classic Brit Awards · Diapason d'Or · Echo Award · Golden Disk Awards · Grammy Award · Grand Prix du Disque · Juno Award · Latin Grammy Awards · Meteor Music Awards · MTV Europe Music Awards · MTV Video Music Awards · MuchMusic Video Awards · Music of Black Origin Awards · New Zealand Music Awards · NRJ Music Award · TEC Awards · World Music Awards Charts ARIA Charts · Billboard Hot 100 · Canadian Hot 100 · RIANZ Singles Chart · Irish Singles Chart · UK Singles Chart Sales certifications ARIA (Gold · Platinum) · BPI (Silver · Gold · Platinum) · CRIA (Gold · Platinum · Multi-Platinum · Diamond) · PROMUSICAE (Gold · Platinum) · RIAA (Gold · Platinum · Multi-Platinum · Diamond) Publications Billboard · HitQuarters · Hot Press · Kerrang! · Mojo · NME · Q · Rolling Stone · Smash Hits · Top of the Pops Retailers Amazon.com · Fnac · HMV Group · Online music stores (iTunes Store) · Trans World Entertainment · Virgin Megastores Television Black Entertainment Television · Country Music Television · Fuse TV · Idol · Juice TV · MTV · MuchMusic · The Music Factory · Star Academy · Viva · The Voice · The X Factor Other A-side and B-side · Christian music industry  · Hidden track  · Grammy Museum  · White label Category

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Espen Lind
Background information
Born	(1971-05-13) 13 May 1971 (age 41)
Origin	Tromsø, Norway
Genres	Pop, Rock, acoustic
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Universal

Espen Lind, (born 13 May 1971), is a Norwegian songwriter, producer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is one half of the production team Espionage.

Solo records[link]

Espen Lind released his first solo album, Mmm...Prepare To Be Swayed, in 1995 under the moniker, 'Sway'. Only released in Norway, it received mixed reviews and sold approximately 5,000 copies. His commercial breakthrough came in 1997 with the single "When Susannah Cries" which was a hit in several European and Latin American countries, including Norway where it was number one for six weeks. His second album Red went on to sell more than 100,000 copies in Norway, and 350,000 copies worldwide, earning Lind three awards at the 1998 Norwegian Grammy's (Spellemannprisen) including Artist of the Year.

2000 saw Lind releasing his third album, This Is Pop Music, and the singles "Black Sunday" and "Life Is Good". The album also contains a duet, "Where the Lost Ones Go," with Norwegian singer Sissel Kyrkjebø. The album reached gold status in Norway but was generally perceived to be a commercial disappointment compared to its predecessor. After a four year break Lind released a new single, "Unloved," in December 2004, followed by the album April, in January 2005.

In 2006 Lind, together with fellow Norwegian artists Kurt Nilsen (World Idol winner), Alejandro Fuentes and Askil Holm released the concert album Hallelujah Live, featuring songs from the foursome's solo records as well as several songs by other artists, most notably a cover version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".

Lind released a new single, "Scared Of Heights," in May 2008. His fifth album titled Army Of One was released on the 23rd June 2008.

In January 2009 he received the award "Årets Spelleman" (artist of the year) at the Norwegian Grammy Awards (Spellemannprisen).

Writing and producing[link]

Espen Lind performing in Norway

During the past few years Espen Lind has done a lot of writing and producing, most notably as co-writer of both "Irreplaceable" by Beyoncé and "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train. Together with writing partner Amund Bjørklund in the production team Espionage he has also written and/or produced songs for artists Lionel Richie, Ne-Yo, Chris Brown and Leona Lewis.

Selected songwriting credits[link]

• "Drive By" - Train
• "Brick By Brick" - Train
• "Hey, Soul Sister" - Train
• "Half Moon Bay" - Train
• "Can't Stop the Rain" - Jennifer Hudson
• "Pastime" - Lionel Richie - co-written
• "My Little Secret" - Cavo
• "Ghost" - Cavo
• "I Need a Girl" - Trey Songz
• "Irreplaceable" - Beyoncé - co-written
• "With You" - Chris Brown - co-written
• "Angel" - Leona Lewis - co-written
• "Now You Tell Me" - Jordin Sparks - produced and co-written
• "Just For The Record" - Jordin Sparks - co-written
• "Go On Girl" - Ne-Yo - co-written
• "One Word" - Elliott Yamin - co-produced and co-written
• "I Don't Wanna Care" - Jessica Simpson - co-written
• "The One That Got Away" - Johnta Austin - co-written
• "Underdog" -Jonas Brothers - co-written
• "I Will Be With You" - Sarah Brightman/Paul Stanley - written
• "The Last Goodbye" - Atomic Kitten - co-written
• "Cry" - Kym Marsh - produced and written
• "Come Back To Me" - David Cook - co-written
• "Life On The Moon" - David Cook - co-written
• "Lie" - David Cook - co-written
• "It’s Gotta Be Love" - Lee DeWyze - co-written with DeWyze & Bjørklund
• "Stay Here" - Lee DeWyze - co-written with DeWyze & Bjørklund

Discography[link]

The following is a discography of albums and singles released by Norwegian music artist Espen Lind.

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Year	Title	Chart positions										Album
		NOR [1][4]	AUT [5]	BEL (VL) [5]	BEL (WA) [5]	FRA [5]	GER [6]	NL [7]	SWE [5]	SWI [5]	UK [8]
1995	"Yum Yum Gimme Some" (as Sway) [disambiguation needed ]	17	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Mmm... Prepare To Be Swayed
	"American Love" (as Sway)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Red
1997	"Baby You're So Cool" (as Sway)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"When Susannah Cries" (as Sway)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"When Susannah Cries" [new release]	1	10	2	21	41	9	10	34	5	185	Red [new version]
	"Lucky For You"	—	—	—	—	—	82	—	—	—	—
1998	"American Love"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2000	"Black Sunday"	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	This Is Pop Music
2001	"Where the Lost Ones Go" (with Sissel Kyrkjebø)	—	—	—	—	—	—	90	—	—	—
2002	"Life Is Good"	—	—	—	—	—	99	—	—	—	—
2004	"Unloved"	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	April
2005	"Look Like Her"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Million Miles Away"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2006	"Hallelujah" (with Kurt Nilsen, Askil Holm and Alejandro Fuentes)	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Hallelujah - Live
	"The Boys Of Summer" (with Kurt Nilsen, Askil Holm and Alejandro Fuentes)	12	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2008	"Scared of Heights"	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Army of One
	"Sweet Love"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2009	"With or Without You" (with Kurt Nilsen, Askil Holm and Alejandro Fuentes)	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Hallelujah - Live Volume 2

#1 Hits[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Espen Lind at the Internet Movie Database
• Biography Espen Lind - at Universal
• Espen Lind - official website

Kurt Nilsen
Nilsen performing at Ibsenhuset in Skien, 2 March 2010.
Background information
Birth name	Kurt Erik Kleppe Nilsen
Also known as	Kurt
Born	(1978-09-29) September 29, 1978 (age 33)
Origin	Bergen, Norway
Genres	Rock/Country
Occupations	Singer, Songwriter
Instruments	Singing, guitar, drums, bass
Years active	2003–present
Labels	RCA
Website	kurtnilsen.com

Kurt Erik Kleppe Nilsen (born September 29, 1978) is a Norwegian pop/country singer. He won the first season of the Norwegian version of the reality television show Pop Idol, which aired on TV 2 in May 2003. He then won a one-off international version of Pop Idol, called World Idol on January 1, 2004, featuring winners of the various national Idol shows.

Career[link]

[edit] Idol

Upon leaving school, Nilsen made his living as a plumber. Nilsen became the lead singer in the Norwegian band Fenrik Lane. He is a left-handed musician and plays his guitar with the strings upside down. He appeared on and won Norwegian Idol with 54% of the votes against Gaute Ormåsen. He is one of only seven contestants in the Idol (Norway) history who succeeded in staying out of “bottom three/two” places in weekly votes.

His subsequent single, "She's So High", written by Tal Bachman, went straight to number one in the Norwegian singles chart and is among the biggest-selling singles in Norway to date. His debut album was simply called I.

[edit] World Idol

He subsequently won the vote for the World Idol title on January 1, 2004, singing the hit "Beautiful Day" by U2, beating competitors from ten other nations, including the more famous Idols, Britain's Will Young, and favourite Kelly Clarkson of the United States, and scoring the first place in 10 out of 11 countries eligible to vote for him (Norwegian voters being unable to vote for him).

In the show presenting the entries on December 25, Ian Dickson, the Australian (English ex-pat) judge, said: "Kurt, you are a hell of a marketing challenge, because you have the voice of an angel, but you look like a Hobbit." ^[1] The comment made Kurt laugh out loud. The crowd seemed to revel in his underdog status as a gap-toothed man, with an astonishingly good voice.

[edit] Post-Idol career

His second CD, A Part Of Me, released in 2004, contains only his own material.

Kurt Nilsen performing in Oslo, Norway

Kurt Nilsen and Marion Raven performing "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" at Tusenfryd amusement park for employees of StatoilHydro, 22. August 2007.

Nilsen performed the duet, It's All Coming Back To Me Now, alongside Norwegian Pop/Alternative Rocker, Marion Raven at the One Call Event. Taking the place of Meat Loaf, with whom Raven recorded the track for the Bat Out Of Hell 3 album

In 2006 he and three other Norwegian artists Askil Holm, Espen Lind and Alejandro Fuentes, all in the same management, joined forces and went on tour in March as what was known by the media as "The New Guitar Buddies".

Initially, they planned a short tour (five to six concerts), but ended up playing for more than 100,000 people during their tour of around 30 concerts. Although they had not planned to, they subsequently released a live album from that tour.

Nilsen performed the duet "When You're Gone" alongside English pop singer, and former-Spice Girls member, Melanie C at the Top 20 event at Rådhusplassen in Oslo, Norway in the summer of 2007.

In 2008, in connection with his latest and country flavoured album Rise To The Occasion Kurt teamed up with American music legend Willie Nelson to perform the old country music standard "Lost Highway". The song was an instant hit in his native Norway and helped him top both the single chart, the album chart and the radio chart all at once.^[2]

In 2009 "The New Guitar Buddies" will be back with a new tour and a new album, tour start is scheduled to be May 9, Rockefeller Oslo.

Spring 2010 sees Kurt touring Norway with an acoustic concert tour in intimate concert halls. His guest artist is Elin Gaustad, who was a competitor in Norway's first X Factor show in 2009. In late February, on the TV2 show Senkveld, Kurt and Elin sang the duet "The Water is Wide" to great acclaim. This performance can be found on YouTube.

In 2010, Kurt recorded a Christmas song album entitled Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas with the Kringkastingsorkester (KORK], the Norwegian Radio Orchestra. It was released on November 15, 2010 in Norway. He performs with this orchestra and some guest artists at Lillestrøm messecenter, near Oslo on 18 December 2010. It was broadcast live on NRK television. The album stayed at the top of the Norwegian Albums Chart for 5 consecutive weeks (48/2010 to 52/2010)

2011 will see Kurt out on the road touring again and playing at a number of music festivals and venues (most yet to be announced). It is also rumoured that a "best of" album is in the pipeline.

Personal life[link]

In January 2005, he broke up with his fiancée, Kristine Jacobsen. They had been together for 11 years and had two children together: Marte (born 1996) and Erik (born 2000). In January 2006, Kurt's new girlfriend Kristin gave birth to her 1st and his 3rd child, Lucas. They married later that year.

Nilsen has received national attention for his guitar-shaped alpine hut, in the Hardangervidda in Norway.^[3][4]

Discography[link]

The following is a discography of albums and singles released by Norwegian music artist Kurt Nilsen.

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Other releases[link]

• 1998 Shoe (with former band Breed; later Fenrik Lane)
• 2002 Come Down Here (EP) (Norwegian album charts: #2)^[9] (with Fenrik Lane)
• 2003 Idol '03 (Norwegian album charts: #1)

#1 Singles in Norway[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Kurt Nilsen at Allmusic
• Kurt Nilsen at the Internet Movie Database
• Kurt Nilsen discography at Discogs