Sea of Tunes

Sea of Tunes was a music publishing company, founded in 1962 by Murry Wilson, father of three of the Beach Boys (Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson), and uncle of another member (Mike Love), to publish and promote the original songs written primarily by Brian and Mike.

After Brian fired Murray as their manager in 1964, Wilson continued to serve as the band's publisher until he sold Sea of Tunes to A&M Records in 1969 for $750,000. Murry believed that the band's popularity had already peaked, and that he was doing them a favor by selling out when the band was at its low point in the late 1960s. Instead, the band members were furious.

Years after Murry's death, Brian Wilson sued for the return of his song copyrights. While he failed to recover them in court, he was awarded $25 million in damages, including unpaid and underpaid royalties.[1] Mike Love also discovered that Murray never credited him for approximately 35 of the songs he had co-written with Brian, and, therefore, had also lost out on royalties. Unable to come to a settlement on their own, and with no supposed malice toward each other, Mike sued Brian for a share of his award, winning $13 million.[2]

Bootleg label

In 1997, a bootleg label named after the publishing company issued a slew of unauthorized bootleg recordings sourced from Beach Boys archives.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Beach Boy Wilson Sues Law Firm Over 1969 Sales". Los Angeles Times. September 18, 1990. Retrieved 2012-10-01.
  2. ↑ "Beach Boys' Mike Love Wins His Case, Stands to Collect Millions". Los Angeles Times. December 13, 1994. Retrieved 2012-10-01.
  3. ↑ Wilonsky, Robert (December 23, 1999). "The Forever Frown". Phoenix New Times Music. phoenixnewtimes.com. Retrieved July 29, 2013.