Davies, Frank, 1946- : Francis William Harding Davies began his career in 1964 as the French correspondent for Billboard Magazine, while still a student of French literature and civilization at Strasbourg University.
Davies joined EMI Records in 1966 at the company's national headquarters in London, attaining the status of Assistant Manager of International Promotions. His functions consisted primarily of promoting EMI's British artists outside the UK, but he was also involved in the promotion of artists represented by EMI in continental Europe visiting the UK. Subsequently, Davies worked from 1967-68 for the London office of Liberty Records, an American independent record label based in California, where he was responsible for international promotions and sales. He ventured to become an independent record producer in 1969, relying on his acquired knowledge of the industry and on personal instinct to identify successful artists.
In 1970, Davies came to Canada and co-founded Love Productions Limited with Australian music journalist Ritchie Yorke and the celebrated American rockabilly artist, Ronnie Hawkins. Love Productions was dedicated to the signing, development, recording, publishing, management and promotion of Canadian recording artists. Daffodil Records, the release label for this production company, would become the first Canadian independent label to be distributed by a major international record firm: Capitol/EMI from 1970 through 1974. This was followed by a one year distribution deal with A&M Records in Canada and then by U.S. tape giant GRT from 1975 to 1977, reverting back to Capitol/EMI from 1978 through 1982. In these years, Davies launched and produced many of Canada's leading artists, including Tom Cochrane, Klaatu, King Biscuit Boy, Crowbar, Fludd, and A Foot in Coldwater, all of whom achieved regular success on national best-seller charts both in Canada and in the United States. It is notable that the three initial Canadian albums released by Daffodil rose to prominence on U.S. charts in the very first year of that label's existence. During the period when GRT was the distributor of Daffodil releases, Davies was instrumental, alongside GRT's president, in launching the American and international careers of a significant number of Canadian soloists and bands, including Dan Hill, Ian Thomas, Prism, and Moe Koffman.
In 1978, Davies launched the production/publishing company Partisan Music Productions Inc. (PMP) following an agreement with Los Angeles-based Capitol Records to develop artists worldwide. This marked the first exclusive record production agreement between a Canadian company and a U.S.-based multinational record firm. With PMP, Davies signed several Canadian artists including Alfie Zappacosta and Graham Shaw, who both became Juno Award winners.
From 1982 to 1986, Davies devoted increasing efforts to music publishing, as President of ATV Music Group Canada (the multinational ATV was then based in the UK and, among other things, housed all of the Beatles' copyrights). Davies built ATV Music Group Canada by signing and developing Canadian talent exclusively. Artists Davies developed included Aldo Nova, Dan Hill, Chilliwack, Toronto, and the Headpins, as well internationally-renowned Canadian songwriters and producers such as Eddie Schwartz and David Tyson. ATV became the worldwide administrator of the Partisan and Daffodil publishing catalogues.
Following the purchase of ATV Music Group (by the late Michael Jackson) in 1986, Davies formed The Music Publisher (TMP), which he administered as a division of Partisan Music Productions. TMP grew to become Canada's largest and most significant independent music publisher, eventually housing almost 5000 copyrights by some of the most successful Canadian songwriters in the modern pop era: Murray McLauchlan, Hagood Hardy, Ian Thomas, Eddie Schwartz, Dean McTaggart, John Capek, and Jane Siberry, among others. TMP was eventually sold to Alliance Communications Corporation and to A&F Music Ltd (a partnership between two of Canada's most prominent managers/agents - Bruce Allen and Sam Feldman) in 1994 while Davies continued heading up the company until Alliance sold it in 1999.
In 1998, with the support of the most prominent publishing and recording companies in Canada, Davies founded the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Since 2004 he continues with the organization in an advisory capacity and as part of its Induction Committee.
Davies currently heads the music industry consulting firm Let Me Be Frank Inc., which he founded in 1999. His clients have included Microsoft Canada Co., Telefilm Canada, Ole Media Management, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation, as well as artists such as Serena Ryder, the Rankin Family, and Nathan Ferraro (Midway State).
Frank Davies has been a founding member and served on the boards of most of Canada's leading music industry institutions, associations, academies and foundations: Canadian Independent Record Production Association (CIRPA) 1970 - Founding member; Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA) 1982-2000 - Director and Chair; Canadian Music Publishers Association (CMPA) 1982-2000 - Executive Committee Member; Performing Rights Organization of Canada (PROCAN) 1983-89 - Director; Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) 1983-90 - Vice-President and Trustee; Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Recordings (FACTOR) 1985-88; Music Promotion Foundation (MPF) 1985-89 - Director; Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) 1990-99 - Director; The SOCAN Foundation (1990-97 - Director and Chair); Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) 2001-2 - Director.
