[2] Starr had initially been signed to Northern Songs, the company set up by publisher Dick James and Beatles manager Brian Epstein on behalf of the band in 1963.
As the main songwriting Beatles, John Lennon and Paul McCartney drew a larger share of benefits (and royalties) from their contract, while Starr and George Harrison were sometimes given second-class treatment, and found their songs and interests under-promoted by the company.
(While Lennon and McCartney made the most of the situation by cashing in their shares in the company they no longer controlled, Starr and Harrison retained theirs, and continued to have a minority voice in Northern Songs.)
Startling Music published "Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus's Garden" and handled royalties for his co-written material with the other Beatles, on their last albums.
He also bought the publishing rights to the songs he recorded in 1970 for Beaucoups of Blues, his second solo album and a venture into the country and western genre.