Quick Facts
Biography
Matthew Katz (born 1929) is an American music manager and producer, most notable as the former manager of Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape and It's a Beautiful Day.Katz was also one of the vanguard litigants in the Napster litigation, where he fought to protect property rights of music publishers. He is the owner of Matthew Katz Productions.
Career
Katz commenced his career in music in the 1960s, as the manager of three San Francisco-based bands, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape and It's A Beautiful Day. He is best known for his long bitter legal battles with Moby Grape, not allowing them to use their name. The band members eventually prevailed in court and Katz had to give up the name and pay back stolen royalties.
Katz is also the owner of San Francisco Sound Records, which has released original or licensed material by Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, It's a Beautiful Day and Tim Hardin, among others. The company released Unforgiven (1981), the last recordings of Tim Hardin.
Other groups that Katz worked with include Tripsichord Music Box and a group from Seattle originally named West Coast Natural Gas, which Katz renamed Indian Puddin' and Pipe.
Katz opened two different music showcases named San Francisco Sound. The Seattle location was in a building on Capitol Hill originally named The Encore Ballroom and operated between 1967 and 1969. It is now a Public Storage warehouse. The other location was in Tottenville, Staten Island, in New York City.
Katz was a candidate for city council of Malibu, California, in April 2010.