Ivor David Arbiter was a British-American drum designer, manufacturer, instrument salesman, and entrepreneur. In his early career, he was the owner and operator of a specialty drum shop in the West End of South London. Later, Arbiter founded or co-founded several instrument companies, including Arbiter–Western, Dallas–Arbiter and CBS–Arbiter. He is credited with designing the Beatles' original drop-t logo, and bringing karaoke to Great Britain.
Early career
Arbiter began his career by opening Drum City, a drum speciality shop, on Shaftesbury Avenue in London. In the late 1950s, his shop quickly became a regular hangout for jazz drummers. Soon after, Arbiter became the UK franchise for Fender guitars and introduced the first Fender Stratocaster to Britain.
Beatles logo
In the early 1960s, Arbiter secured exclusive rights to sell Ludwig drums. Ringo Starr, interested in a Black Oyster Pearldrum kit, then only available through Ludwig, approached Arbiter in early 1963. Starr insisted that a large Ludwig logo be printed on the bass drum head, which was not available. Brian Epstein suggested that the drum head also include a Beatles logo, and Arbiter decided on a design including a large Beatles logo with enough room to fit a Ludwig logo on the top. He sketched a logo mockup on the back of a cigarette package and paid a local signmaker five pounds to paint the logo on the drum head.
Other ventures
Arbiter continued to find success in the music market, selling equipment to musicians including Brian Bennett, Jeff Beck, and Jimi Hendrix. In 1966, Arbiter established a new guitar company, Arbiter–Western, which was sold to Dallas in 1969. Arbiter became the company's deputy chairman and the company was renamed Dallas–Arbiter. While there, Arbiter's work included launching a new line of Hayman drums, considered the loudest on the market In 1974, Arbiter left Dallas–Arbiter and began a new venture, CBS–Arbiter. Arbiter introduced Autotune in 1975, which allowed drums to be quickly replaced and retensioned. In the late 1980s, while visiting Japan, Arbiter discovered karaoke and began importing and manufacturing karaoke machines. In 2001, Arbiter received a lifetime achievement award from the Music Industries Association. Arbiter retired in 2003 and died in London in 2005 after a battle with cancer.
