Maverick (company)
 | |
| Type | Entertainment company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | 1992 in Hollywood, California |
| Founder(s) | Madonna, Frederick DeMann, Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev |
| Headquarters | Burbank, California, United States |
| Key people | Guy Oseary (CEO) |
| Products | Music entertainment, Motion pictures, television programs, music videos |
| Website | Maverick.com |
Maverick is an entertainment company founded by Madonna, Frederick DeMann and Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev in 1992. It is owned and operated by Warner Music Group. It comprises a recording company (Maverick Records), a film production company (Maverick Films), book publishing, music publishing, Latin record division (Maverick Musica) and television production company. The first releases for the company was Madonna's 1992 coffee table publication, Sex and her studio album Erotica which were released simultaneously to great controversy.
The name of the company derives from the names of its founders; MAdonna, VERonica and FredeRICK. DeMann was bought out of the company for a reported $20 million in 1998, after which Guy Oseary increased his stake in the company and took control as Chairman and CEO. Madonna and Dashev left in 2004 after a lawsuit between Maverick and Warner Music Group. Madonna's recording contract remained with Warner Music and Warner Bros. Records under a separate agreement.
History
Consisting of a record company, music publishing, television, film, merchandising and book-publishing divisions. It was a joint venture between Madonna and Time Warner as part of a $60 million recording and business deal. It gave her 20% royalties from the music proceedings, one of the highest rates in the industry, equalled at that time only by Michael Jackson's royalty rate established a year earlier with Sony.[1] The first releases for the company was Madonna's 1992 coffee table publication, Sex and her studio album Erotica which were released simultaneously to great controversy.[2]
DeMann was bought out of the company for a reported $20 million in 1998, after which Guy Oseary increased his stake in the company and took control as Chairman and CEO. Madonna and Maverick sued Warner Music Group and its former parent company Time Warner, claiming that mismanagement of resources and poor bookkeeping had cost the company millions of dollars. In return, Warner filed a countersuit alleging that Maverick had lost tens of millions of dollars on its own.[3][4] The dispute was resolved when the Maverick shares, owned by Madonna and Dashev, were purchased by Warner. Maverick became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music, but Madonna was still signed to Warner under a separate recording contract.[3]
Maverick's record division has had noted triumphs with acts like Alanis Morissette, Michelle Branch, The Prodigy, Candlebox, and the band Deftones. The label also had success with soundtracks for The Wedding Singer, Jackie Brown and The Matrix. The film division has had moderate success with motion pictures such as Agent Cody Banks.
Divisions
- Maverick Recording Company — record company distributed by Warner Bros. Records
- Maverick Films — film production company
- Maverick Musica — Latin division of Maverick Records
- Maverick Books — book publishing
- MadGuy Television — television production
- MadGuy Films — film and television production
- Maverick Music — publishing division
References
- ↑ Holden, Stephen (1992-04-20). "Madonna Makes a $60 Million Deal". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
- ↑ Kirschling, Gregory (2002-10-25). "The Naked Launch". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Madonna's label sues record giant". BBC. 2004-03-26. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
- ↑ Shawhan, Jason (2007-08-26). "Madonna sells record company". NME (IPC Media). Retrieved 2008-06-09.