Editing Brian Epstein (section)

===Record contract===
<!-- Put references into this article from books or web pages or your edit will be deleted -->
[[File:Beatles Telegram.jpg|thumb|right|270px|The telegram that Epstein sent to ''[[Mersey Beat]]'' newspaper in Liverpool to announce that he had secured the Beatles their first recording contract]]
Starting shortly after he met the Beatles, Epstein made numerous trips to London to visit record companies in the hope of securing a record contract, but many rejected him, including [[Columbia Records|Columbia]], [[Pye Records|Pye]], [[Philips Records|Philips]], [[Oriole Records (UK)|Oriole]], and most notoriously [[Decca Records|Decca]].{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=89}} On 13 December 1961, at Epstein's invitation, Mike Smith of Decca travelled from London to Liverpool to watch the group at the Cavern, which led to an audition in London on 1 January 1962 (see [[The Beatles' Decca audition]]).{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=41}} Decca informed Epstein one month later that the audition tapes had been rejected. The Beatles later found out that Epstein had paid Decca producer [[Tony Meehan]] (ex-drummer of the [[The Shadows|Shadows]]) to produce the studio recordings.{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=89}} While Epstein was negotiating with Decca he also approached Ron White, an EMI marketing executive with whom he had a business relationship. White told Epstein he would play the Beatles' recording of "[[My Bonnie]]" the band made in Germany with [[Tony Sheridan]] for EMI's four A&R directors. However, White only played it for two of them—[[Wally Ridley]] and [[Norman Newell]].{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=507, 527}}

In early February 1962, Epstein visited the [[HMV]] store (owned by EMI) in 363 [[Oxford Street]], London to have the Decca tape transferred to 78 rpm acetates. Jim Foy, a disc-cutter for the [[His Master's Voice (British record label)|His Master's Voice]] label, liked the recordings, suggesting that Epstein should contact Sid Colman, the head of EMI's record publishing division, which controlled the publishing company Ardmore & Beechwood.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=569}} Colman and his colleague Kim Bennett liked the Beatles' recording of "[[Like Dreamers Do]]" and sought to have EMI record [[Lennon–McCartney]] original songs, with Ardmore & Beechwood retaining the publishing rights; they sent Epstein to [[George Martin]], the A&R manager of EMI's Parlophone label.<ref name="hill2007p17">{{harvnb|Hill|2007|p=17}}</ref>{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=570}} Epstein met Martin on 13 February, where he played the acetates of the Decca audition. Epstein left the meeting optimistic, but Martin "wasn't knocked out at all" by the "lousy tape".{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=571}}

Martin later claimed that Epstein's conviction that the Beatles would become internationally famous finally convinced him to offer a recording contract.<ref name="EpsteinCom" /> In fact, however, EMI managing director L. G. ("Len") Wood instructed Martin to sign the Beatles in May 1962, largely to appease the continued interest of Ardmore & Beechwood in Lennon–McCartney song publishing.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=616}} Martin met with Epstein again on 9 May and offered him a standard EMI recording contract for the Beatles to record six "sides" (equivalent to three two-sided single releases) in their first year.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=622}} Upon signing the contract, Epstein immediately sent a telegram to the Beatles (who were in Hamburg) and to the ''Mersey Beat'' music journal in Liverpool.{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=90}}

The recording contract gave the Beatles [[Penny (British pre-decimal coin)|one penny (1d)]] for each record sold, which was split among the four members, meaning that each earned one [[Farthing (British coin)|farthing]] per copy. The royalty rate was further reduced for singles sold outside the UK; the group received half of one penny per single, which was again split amongst the whole group.{{sfn|Brown|Gaines|2002|p=79}} Martin scheduled the first recording session to be on 6 June 1962 at [[Abbey Road Studios]]. Epstein later{{When|date=March 2017}} renegotiated EMI's royalty rate and on 27 January 1967 the Beatles signed a new nine-year contract with EMI. The contract stipulated that 25 per cent would be paid to NEMS for the full nine years even if the Beatles decided not to renew their management contract with Epstein, which was up for renewal later that year.{{sfn|Flippo|1988|p=244}}