Ralph Peer

Ralph Peer (May 22, 1892, Independence, Missouri - January 19, 1960, Hollywood, California) was a talent scout, recording engineer and record producer in the field of Country and Blues music in the 1920s and 1930s. As the recording director for Okeh, Peer looked for new music to record and discovered that the white folk music of the southeastern United States had commercial appeal. In 1927, he left OKeh and founded his own publishing firm, Southern Music (which became the Peermusic group). He traveled all around the South, setting up temporary recording studios and advertising for new talent in local newspapers. In exchange for his recording services, Peer acquired the copyright on the material that he recorded so that he is listed as co-author on many songs. Later, Peer entered into a joint venture with the Paris-based publisher Rolf Marbot to exchange their repertoires, Latin-American sounds and European Schlager. Peer was the father of Ralph Peer II.