Category 5 Music Publishing Company, UM’s first music publishing group, recently signed and showcased its first two songwriters at a company unveiling held in December.
“The December 10 unveiling went better than we could have ever anticipated,” said Peyton Lowrey, director of marketing for Category 5.
Category 5 is run completely by UM music business students. It is the first student-run, full service publishing company in the country.
The music business department is especially enthusiastic about Category 5 because it was inspired, thought out and brought to fruition by UM students.
“Category 5 is very important to us [music business students] because it’s ours, and because of that we always do whatever it takes in order for us to be successful,” Lowrey said.
Sam Hooper, an alumnus from the UM School of Music, and Adrian Gordon, a current UM music student who recently won second place in the John Lennon songwriting contest, were the first artists to be signed.
Although Hooper and Gordon are both affiliated with the University, representatives of Category 5 say they are considering music from any songwriters.
Several representatives from the industry were present at the signing, including Julio Bague of Peer Music Publishing, and Leslie Ahrens of EMI Publishing.
“We are interested in finding quality material, regardless of the source,” said Creative Director Anna Finkner. “We will consider demo submissions from any source, genre and artist, and we are continually looking for songs with good market potential.”
Category 5 is different from Cane Records and other student record labels in that it is solely a publishing company, not a recording company.
According to organizers, the company’s job is not to promote artists or songwriters, but rather to promote the songs themselves. The publishing company buys the rights to a songwriter’s songs, then sells them to artists or record labels who want to use them.
Category 5 plans to license Gordon and Hooper’s songs for use in television, films, software, video games and anywhere else music is played.
“Our first order of business is to get the songs of Sam and Adrian. . . onto an album or a television show,” Lowrey said. “The only way to judge a music publisher is to ask ‘are their songs being used?'”
Music business students chose to name their company after the strongest class of hurricane, Category 5, because they want to be associated with a strong image.
“We’re always moving forward and in constant motion,” Lowrey said. “We’re a very young and enthusiastic company, and I think that’s the largest benefit we bring to potential songwriters.”
Anyone who would like to submit original songs for consideration can send their demo tapes to Category 5 Music Publishing, P.O. Box 248165m c/o
Ray Sanchez, Coral Gables, FL 33124.
Jaclyn Lisenby can be contacted at jlisenby@umsis.miami.edu.