Company History

The company story dates back to 1923, when Larry Spier, Sr. wrote the music with Con Conrad for "Memory Lane," lyrics by B.G. DeSylva. The song was a huge hit, later revived in the 1944 Abbott and Costello film "In Society," and served as Larry's entry into the music business. Shortly afterwards, Larry partnered with songwriters Sam Coslow and Andy Britt to compose the hit "Was It a Dream" in 1928. Larry realized that his true talents lie in the business of music publishing. Along with Sam Coslow, they formed the music publishing company of Spier and Coslow in 1928.

In 1929, the Spier and Coslow company was sold to Paramount Pictures. After a stint at Famous Music Publishing, the duo split, with Coslow going on to become a movie producer and Larry starting a successful stretch as general manager of Chappell Music. While at Chappell, Larry was involved in such Broadway hits as Oklahoma, Bloomer Girl, State Fair and culminating in South Pacific in 1949.

While during a brief stay at The Bourne Co. in 1949, Larry persuaded Nat King Cole's to record the hit, "Unforgettable". In 1950, he partnered with legendary singer Johnnie Ray, writing "The Little White Cloud that Cried," the B-side to Ray's career defining hit, "Cry".

In the middle of his career, in 1938, Larry Sr. started his own music publishing company, Larry Spier Inc., to control "Memory Lane" and other valuable copyrights. His son, Larry Jr., began working with his father at Larry Spier Inc. after graduating from New York University in 1950.

In 1955 Larry Sr. died unexpectedly and Larry Jr. took over as president of Larry Spier Inc. Larry Jr. picked up right where is father left off with The Four Lads hit "Moments to Remember" which reached #2 on the Billboard Charts in 1955.

In the 1960's, Larry started Memory Lane Music Corp. to facilitate songwriters affiliated with BMI. He also entered into a partnership with Belle and Hal Webman.

In the 1970's Larry made an association with Caytronics, a company that owned the distribution rights to CBS Records' Latin product. He was soon brought in to run Caytronics' publishing, which he did on an administration basis. The association lasted for about 15 years until Caytronics departed the music business.

Focusing again on his own endeavors, Larry took a hard look at the music publishing business. He knew he had an opportunity to expand his administrative representation due to the termination provision in the 1976 Copyright Law that gave songwriters or their heirs the ability to recapture the publishing rights of certain compositions in the United States. Larry capitalized on the 56-year termination provision and became one the pioneers of music publishing administration.

In 1979 Larry started Memory Lane Music Ltd., a UK based company, to handle foreign administration and British Reversionary Rights. In 1980, Memory Lane Music Corp. was established to handle songs by writers who were associated with BMI. Memory Lane Music (Australia) Ltd. Pty was formed in 1982 to manage copyrights in Australia and New Zealand.

During the 1980's and early 90's, Larry Spier, Inc. was involved with several dance hits including "Babe We're Going to Love Tonight" and "Your Love," recorded by Lime, that were certified gold in France and Benelux. "Touch Me (All Night Long)," recorded by Cathy Denis, was a hit around the world and, in 1991, was awarded by ASCAP the title of "Top Performed Song." In 1985, Memory Lane Music Corp. ventured in the record business producing the hit, "Thinking About Your Love," written and recorded by Skipworth and Turner. The song climbed to #1 on the dance charts in both the United States and England.

Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Larry added to the Larry Spier, Inc. and Memory Lane Music Ltd. administration catalogs by signing George David Weiss, Ervin Drake, Louis Prima, Larry Stock, Fred Ahlert, Carl Sigman, Joe Sherman, Charles Tobias, George Whiting, Andy Razaf, Clint Ballard, Benny Davis, Harry Akst, David Hess, and Diane Lampert. Larry also acquired JoRo Music which contained all the works of Joseph Meyer.

Memory Lane has always been a family run business. In the early 80's Larry's wife, Dorothy, joined the firm working for the company until her death in 1999. Roberta Spier Kladerman, Larry and Dorothy's daughter, joined the firm after graduating from Syracuse University in 1988. Before joining Memory Lane in 1995 to provide assistance to her father, she spent several years at the American Arbitration Association and held a position at EMI Music Publishing. In 2000 Roberta left the company on an "extended" maternity leave but plans in the near future to return to full-time work at the company.

In February 2003 Larry's son, Mark, joined the firm as Chief Financial Officer. Mark graduated from Cornell University in 1985 with a BS in Computer Science and was employed with IBM until 1988. He received his MBA in Finance from Columbia University in 1990 and was employed with Credit Suisse First Boston, rising to position of Vice President, until his departure for Memory Lane. Throughout the years Mark has overseen Memory Lane's progression into the world of technology by developing and computerizing the company's royalty and financial management systems. Though he was being groomed to do so eventually, Mark's assuming the position as president of Memory Lane came quite suddenly.

On June 30, 2003, Larry died unexpectedly of a heart attack while vacationing in Florida. Larry's last days were spent doing what he loved - golfing, eating and overseeing his company. He was an active and respected member of several music publishing organizations and associations and known for his extensive knowledge of the business.

In 2006, Scion Three Music (BMI) and Scion Four Music (ASCAP) were formed as Memory Lane's contemporary division. Over the past three years, Scion has signed over 30 established and up-and-coming songwriters who have written for the likes of Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Lopez, Jay Z, Rihanna, Joss Stone, Snoop Dog, Pink, Mary J. Blige, Swizz Beatz, Kumi Koda, Craig David, and Jodi Messina. In early 2009, Scion North and Scion Arctic (both SOCAN) were formed to handle the publishing of Canadian songwriters.

In 2008, Memory Lane entered the world of the record label forming Scion Music Group. Scion Music Group is currently in negotiations with potential artists and has recently signed a distribution deal with Universal Fontana Music.