Premier and Universal Percussion Part Ways

In an official statement from the company, Premier notes, “Premier Music International and Universal Percussion have mutually agreed not to proceed further together with plans for the handling of Premier’s drumsets in the USA… Premier wishes the Universal Percussion team all the best for the future.”

For their part, Universal’s announcement stated that “Universal Percussion has officially severed it’s US distribution agreement with Premier Percussion… No connection now exists between the two companies.”

Tom Shelley, president of Universal Percussion, explained the decision, saying, “We announced our intention to distribute Premier drums in August of 2010, and we displayed Premier kits at the NAMM show in January of 2011. Unfortunately, the production orders that we’ve put in have not been met according to the terms of our agreement with Premier. As a result we’ve been unable to provide our customers with product. This situation is contrary to the policy of immediate and high-quality service that Universal’s reputation is built on. Accordingly, we’ve chosen to concentrate on brand lines that we can support in the manner that our customers have come to expect. In the meantime, Universal regrets any inconvenience to those customers.”