Matthew Katz

Matthew Katz (born 1929) is an American music manager and producer, most notably as the former manager of Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape[1] and It's a Beautiful Day. In 2001, Wired described Katz as "an attorney who has brought numerous lawsuits against various companies on his own behalf", including against Napster.[2] He is the owner of Matthew Katz Productions.

Career

Katz commenced his career in music in the 1960s, as the manager of three San Francisco-based bands, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape and It's A Beautiful Day. He is known for controversial practices that were criticized for not being in the best interest of the artists he managed. In October 1966, when CBS Records offered a contract to Moby Grape, Katz coerced the band into giving up ownership of their name and all of their publishing rights or else he would block them from signing with the label.[3] Moby Grape fired Katz in late 1967.[4] His acrimonious relationship with the band would continue to deteriorate for decades as Katz continued to collect all of their royalties for himself. In 2005, the Superior Court Of California decreed that all ownership rights relating to recordings and songs prior to 1973 are the sole property of Moby Grape. It also stipulated that Katz was to pay back royalties, and that the band members now owned the Moby Grape name. Katz appealed, but the Court Of Appeal upheld the original verdict in 2006.[5] When Sundazed Music tried to bring the band's catalog back into print, Katz threatened them with litigation over ownership of the album artwork. The band's work remained out-of-print as of 2007 largely due to his efforts.[4]

Katz is also the owner of San Francisco Sound Records, which has released original or licensed material by Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, It's a Beautiful Day and Tim Hardin, among others.[6] The company released Unforgiven (1981), the last recordings of Tim Hardin.

Other groups that Katz worked with include Tripsichord Music Box and a group from Seattle originally named West Coast Natural Gas, which Katz renamed Indian Puddin' and Pipe.[7]

Katz opened two different music showcases named San Francisco Sound. The Seattle location was in a building on Capitol Hill originally named The Encore Ballroom and operated between 1967 and 1969. It is now a Public Storage warehouse. The other location was in Tottenville, Staten Island, in New York City.[8]

Katz was a candidate for city council of Malibu, California, in April 2010.[9][10]

References
  1. Jeff Tamarkin, Skip Spence and The Sad Saga of Moby Grape. Chapter extract from Got A Revolution: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane.
  2. Brad King, Judge Steams: Napster Cooked? April 10, 2001; www.wired.com.
  3. "The story of Moby Grape: chaos and courtrooms, acid and white witches". Louder. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  4. "Moby Grape Just Can't Catch a Break". NPR. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  5. "The story of Moby Grape: chaos and courtrooms, acid and white witches". Louder. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  6. Details of releases by San Francisco Sound Records may be found here.
  7. Pacific Northwest Bands: West Coast Natural Gas
  8. Pacific Northwest Bands: San Francisco Sound Ballroom
  9. https://www.malibucity.org/Archive.aspx?ADID=71
  10. City of Malibu - News: April 13, 2010 General Municipal Election - Official Results
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