Universal Publishing Production Music (UPPM) is a diverse and comprehensive
collection of popular and respected production music labels. These include
Atmosphere, Bruton, Chappell, BBC, Killer Tracks, Firstcom, Koka, Kosinus,
ReverbNation, Immediate Music and many more.
UPPM’s labels are managed by Philip Jacobs. With over 16 years experience,
Jacobs has been helping film, TV and radio producers find the perfect tracks for
their work. His background lies mainly in television production, but also includes
sales and promotional marketing.
The history of UPPM goes back as far as 1941, when Chappell Recorded Music
Library, the oldest in the family, was launched. Many other production music
labels saw the light of day, including Jim Long’s label FirstCom, and Atmosphere
Music, founded by John Lee. In 1985, pop legend Michael Jackson, then owner of
ATV Music, sold Bruton Music to Zomba Music Publishing, an independent music
publisher founded in South Africa 10 years earlier.
Over the decades the labels that form the UPPM heritage evolved and changed
ownership many times, until 2007 when BMG Music Publishing was acquired by
Universal Music Publishing. This was the birth of UPPM as it is today.
The delivery platforms for production music have had to adapt, going from the
vinyl of yesteryear, to the compact disc revolution of the 80s. In more recent
times, advances in the digital domain saw a shift from CD to DVD.
The new millennium saw UPPM embrace the internet, by making its entire
production music repertoire available online. UPPM’s website
(www.unippm.co.za) allows clients to browse, search, listen and download full
length tracks conveniently from anywhere in the world.
In 2012 the UPPM online offering was bolstered by the introduction of a mobile
version of the popular website which continues to play a vital role in the
distribution and delivery of UPPM’s production music.
At the end of 2012 production of the reliable, but outdated, UNIPPM-DVD
ceased. This paved the way for UPPM’s entry into the world of disc-less delivery
of production music. To reinforce this trend, U-Drive was launched in November
2013, offering a new hard drive platform. It reflects the comprehensive search
functionality and convenience of the website, coupled with the lightning speed
and stability that offline hard drive technology offers.
“With the high level of production, creativity and expertise being invested in
production music today, we expect to see it flourish even more,’ says Jacobs.
“New technologies, as well as new players in the arena, will continue to push us
to do and be the best we can be.’
