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Irving Mills
Irving Harold Mills (born Isadore Minsky; January 18, 1894 Odessa, Ukraine – April 21, 1985) was a Ukrainian-American music publisher, musician, lyricist, and jazz promoter. He often used the pseudonyms Goody Goodwin and Joe Primrose.
Mills was born to a Jewish family in Odessa, Russian Empire, although some biographies state that he was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. His father, Hyman Minsky, was a hatmaker who immigrated from Odessa to the United States with his wife Sofia. Hyman died in 1905, and Irving and his brother, Jacob (1891–1979) worked odd jobs including bussing at restaurants, selling wallpaper, and working in the garment industry. By 1910, Mills was a telephone operator.
In July 1919 Irving's older brother Jack Mills founded Jack Mills Music; mainly motivated to do so out of a desire to publish his own songs. Soon after, he was joined in the enterprise by Irving Mills who served as vice-president of the company with Jack as president, and Samuel Jesse Buzzell as secretary and counselor. The company was renamed Mills Music, Inc. in 1928. Mills Music acquired the bankrupt Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, Inc. in 1929. Buzzell's son, Loring Buzzell, briefly worked for the company from March 1949 to October 1950.
Irving, Jack, and Samuel sold Mills Music on February 25, 1965, to Utilities and Industries Corporation (a utility company based in New York). In 1969, Utilities and Industries Corporation merged Mills Music with Belwin, another music publisher, to form Belwin-Mills. Educational publisher Esquire Inc. announced its acquisition of Belwin-Mills in 1979. Gulf & Western acquired Esquire Inc. in 1983 and sold the Belwin-Mills print business to Columbia Pictures Publications (CPP) in 1985. CPP was later acquired by Filmtrax and Filmtrax was acquired by EMI Music Publishing in 1990. In 1994, Warner Bros. Publications expanded its print music operations by acquiring CPP/Belwin, the print operations of Belwin-Mills. In 2005 Alfred Music acquired Warner Bros. Publications (including Belwin-Mills) from Warner Music Group.
The Mills Music catalog is now managed by Sony Music Publishing, which acquired EMI Music Publishing in 2012.
Utilities and Industries Corporation restructured Mills Music as The Mills Music Trust. At the time of the sale, its top 10 earning compositions were:
By the end of 1963, 114 titles brought in 77 percent of the royalty income for five years. The total number of compositions, at the time of sale, was estimated to be in excess of 25,000, of which 1,500 were still producing royalties. In 1964, Mills had royalties of $1.3 million (equivalent to $13,816,980 in 2025). The company had 20 music publishing subsidiaries as well as publishing concerns in Britain, Brazil, Canada, France, West Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Spain.
The Mills Music Trust traded in units OTC (over-the-counter) under the symbol MMTRS. The trust received payments from EMI Records based on a formula that changed in 2010, when the trust passed almost all its funds to unit holders.
Irving Mills
Irving Harold Mills (born Isadore Minsky; January 18, 1894 Odessa, Ukraine – April 21, 1985) was a Ukrainian-American music publisher, musician, lyricist, and jazz promoter. He often used the pseudonyms Goody Goodwin and Joe Primrose.
Mills was born to a Jewish family in Odessa, Russian Empire, although some biographies state that he was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. His father, Hyman Minsky, was a hatmaker who immigrated from Odessa to the United States with his wife Sofia. Hyman died in 1905, and Irving and his brother, Jacob (1891–1979) worked odd jobs including bussing at restaurants, selling wallpaper, and working in the garment industry. By 1910, Mills was a telephone operator.
In July 1919 Irving's older brother Jack Mills founded Jack Mills Music; mainly motivated to do so out of a desire to publish his own songs. Soon after, he was joined in the enterprise by Irving Mills who served as vice-president of the company with Jack as president, and Samuel Jesse Buzzell as secretary and counselor. The company was renamed Mills Music, Inc. in 1928. Mills Music acquired the bankrupt Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, Inc. in 1929. Buzzell's son, Loring Buzzell, briefly worked for the company from March 1949 to October 1950.
Irving, Jack, and Samuel sold Mills Music on February 25, 1965, to Utilities and Industries Corporation (a utility company based in New York). In 1969, Utilities and Industries Corporation merged Mills Music with Belwin, another music publisher, to form Belwin-Mills. Educational publisher Esquire Inc. announced its acquisition of Belwin-Mills in 1979. Gulf & Western acquired Esquire Inc. in 1983 and sold the Belwin-Mills print business to Columbia Pictures Publications (CPP) in 1985. CPP was later acquired by Filmtrax and Filmtrax was acquired by EMI Music Publishing in 1990. In 1994, Warner Bros. Publications expanded its print music operations by acquiring CPP/Belwin, the print operations of Belwin-Mills. In 2005 Alfred Music acquired Warner Bros. Publications (including Belwin-Mills) from Warner Music Group.
The Mills Music catalog is now managed by Sony Music Publishing, which acquired EMI Music Publishing in 2012.
Utilities and Industries Corporation restructured Mills Music as The Mills Music Trust. At the time of the sale, its top 10 earning compositions were:
By the end of 1963, 114 titles brought in 77 percent of the royalty income for five years. The total number of compositions, at the time of sale, was estimated to be in excess of 25,000, of which 1,500 were still producing royalties. In 1964, Mills had royalties of $1.3 million (equivalent to $13,816,980 in 2025). The company had 20 music publishing subsidiaries as well as publishing concerns in Britain, Brazil, Canada, France, West Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Spain.
The Mills Music Trust traded in units OTC (over-the-counter) under the symbol MMTRS. The trust received payments from EMI Records based on a formula that changed in 2010, when the trust passed almost all its funds to unit holders.