For the city nicknamed Motown, see
Detroit.
Motown is a record company originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit. Now headquartered in New York City, Motown is a subsidiary of The Island Def Jam Music Group, itself a subsidiary of the French-owned Vivendi subsidiary, Universal Music Group. Motown Records was also the name of Gordy's second record label; the first, Tamla Records, began on January 12, 1959. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music, by achieving a crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its soul-based subsidiaries were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as The Motown Sound, a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence.
Motown has owned or distributed releases from more than 45 subsidiaries in varying genres, although it is most famous for its releases in the music genres of rhythm and blues, soul and pop. Gordy relocated Motown Records to Los Angeles in 1972 and there it remained an independent company until June 28, 1988, when Gordy sold the company to MCA and Boston Ventures (which took over full ownership of Motown in 1991), then to PolyGram in 1994, before being sold again to MCA Records' successor Universal Music Group, when it acquired The PolyGram Group. As of summer of 2011, Motown has been reactivated under The Island Def Jam Music Group division of Universal Music Group.[1][2][3][4]
Berry Gordy got his start as a songwriter for local Detroit acts such as Jackie Wilson and The Matadors. Wilson's single "Lonely Teardrops", written by Gordy, became a huge success; however, Gordy did not feel he made as much money as he deserved from this and other singles he wrote for Wilson. He realized that the more lucrative end of the business was in producing records and owning the publishing.
The
Hitsville U.S.A. Motown building at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in
Detroit served as Motown's headquarters from 1959 until 1968, and became the Motown Historical Museum in 1985.
[5]
In 1959, Billy Davis and Berry Gordy's sisters Gwen and Anna started Anna Records. Davis and Gwen Gordy wanted Berry to be the company president, but Berry wanted to strike out on his own. On January 12, 1959, he started Tamla Records, with an $800 loan from his family and from royalties earned writing for Jackie Wilson. Gordy originally wanted to name the label "Tammy" Records, after the popular song by Debbie Reynolds from the 1957 film Tammy and the Bachelor also starring Reynolds. When he found the name was already in use, he decided on Tamla instead. Tamla's first release, in the Detroit area, was Marv Johnson's "Come to Me" in 1959 (released nationally on United Artists). Its first hit was Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" (1959), which made it to #2 on the Billboard R&B charts.
Gordy's first signed act was The Matadors, who changed their name to The Miracles when Gordy signed them. (They were not the Matadors who recorded for Sue.) Their first release, "Got a Job," was an answer record to the Silhouettes' "Get a Job." The Miracles' first, minor hit was their fourth single, 1959's "Bad Girl," released in Detroit as the debut record on the Motown imprint, and nationally on the Chess label. (Most early Motown singles were released through other labels, such as End, Fury, Gone and Chess.) Miracles lead singer William "Smokey" Robinson became the vice president of the company (and later named his daughter "Tamla" and his son "Berry" out of gratitude to Gordy and the label). Many of Gordy's family members, including his father Berry, Sr., brothers Robert and George, and sister Esther, were eventually given key roles in the company. By the middle of the decade, Gwen and Anna Gordy had joined the label in administrative positions as well.
Also in 1959, Gordy purchased the property that would become Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. studio. The photography studio located in the back of the property was modified into a small recording studio and the Gordys moved into the second floor living quarters. Within seven years, Motown would occupy seven additional neighboring houses:
- Hitsville U.S.A. 1959 – (lower) administrative office, tape library, control room, Studio A. (upper) Gordy living quarter (1959–1962), artists and repertoire (1962–1972)
- Jobete Publishing Office 1961 – sales, billing, collections, shipping, & public relations
- Berry Gordy Jr. Enterprise 1962 – offices for Berry Gordy Jr. & Esther Gordy Edwards
- Finance Department 1965 – royalty & pay roll
- Artist Personal Development 1966 – Harvey Fuqua (head of artist development and producer of stage performances), Maxine Powell (grooming, poise, and social graces), Maurice King (vocal coach, musical director and arranger), Cholly Atkins (house choreography), and rehearsal studios
- Two Homes for Administrative Offices 1966 – sales & marketing, traveling & traffic, and mixing & mastering.
- ITMI Office (International Talent Management Inc.) 1966 – management
Motown hired over 450 employees and grossed income of $20 million by the end of 1966.
Gordy founded a second label, Motown Records, in September 1959. Early Tamla/Motown artists included Mable John, Eddie Holland and Mary Wells. "Shop Around", The Miracles' first #1 R&B hit, peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. It was Tamla's first million-selling record. On April 14, 1960, Motown and Tamla Records merged into a new company called Motown Record Corporation. A year later, The Marvelettes scored Tamla's first US #1 pop hit, "Please Mr. Postman". By the mid-1960s, the label, with the help of songwriters and producers such as Robinson, A&R chief William "Mickey" Stevenson, Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Norman Whitfield, was a major force in the music industry.
From 1961 to 1971, Motown had 110 top 10 hits. Top artists on the Motown label during that period included Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Four Tops, and The Jackson 5, while Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and The Miracles released hits on the Tamla label. The company operated several labels in addition to the Tamla and Motown imprints. A third label, which Gordy named after himself (though it was originally called "Miracle") featured The Temptations, The Contours, and Martha and the Vandellas. A fourth, V.I.P., released recordings by The Velvelettes, The Spinners, The Originals, and Chris Clark. A fifth label, Soul, featured Jr. Walker & the All Stars, Jimmy Ruffin, Shorty Long, and Gladys Knight & the Pips (who had found success before joining Motown, as 'The Pips' on Vee-Jay). Many more Motown-owned labels released recordings in other genres, including Workshop Jazz (jazz), Mel-o-dy (country, although it was originally an R&B label), and Rare Earth (rock). Under the slogan "The Sound of Young America", Motown's acts were enjoying widespread popularity among black and white audiences alike.
Smokey Robinson said of Motown's cultural impact:
Into the '60s, I was still not of a frame of mind that we were not only making music, we were making history. But I did recognize the impact because acts were going all over the world at that time. I recognized the bridges that we crossed, the racial problems and the barriers that we broke down with music. I recognized that because I lived it. I would come to the South in the early days of Motown and the audiences would be segregated. Then they started to get the Motown music and we would go back and the audiences were integrated and the kids were dancing together and holding hands.[6]
In 1967 Berry Gordy purchased what is now known as Motown Mansion in Detroit's Boston-Edison Historic District as his home, leaving his previous home to sister Anna and then husband Marvin Gaye (where photos for the cover of his album What's Going On were taken).[7] In 1968, Gordy purchased the Donovan building on the corner of Woodward Avenue and Interstate 75, and moved Motown's Detroit offices there (the Donovan building was demolished in January 2006 to provide parking spaces for Super Bowl XL). In the same year Gordy purchased Golden World Records, and its recording studio became "Studio B" to Hitsville's "Studio A".
In Britain, Motown's records were released on various labels: at first London (only the Miracles' "Shop Around"/"Who's Lovin' You" and "Ain't It Baby"), then Fontana ("Please Mr. Postman" by the Marvelettes was one of four), Oriole American ("Fingertips" by Little Stevie Wonder was one of many), EMI's Stateside ("Where Did Our Love Go" by the Supremes and "My Guy" by Mary Wells were Motown's first British top-20 hits), and finally EMI's Tamla-Motown ("Stop! In The Name of Love" by The Supremes was the first Tamla-Motown label release in March 1965).
After the songwriting trio Holland–Dozier–Holland left the label in 1967 over royalty payment disputes, Norman Whitfield became the company's top producer, turning out hits for The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Gladys Knight & the Pips. In the meantime, Berry Gordy established Motown Productions, a television subsidiary which produced TV specials for the Motown artists, including TCB with Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations, Diana! with Diana Ross, and Goin' Back to Indiana with The Jackson 5. The company loosened its production rules, allowing some of its longtime artists the chances to write and produce more of their own material. This resulted in the recordings of successful and critically acclaimed albums such as Marvin Gaye's What's Going On (1971) and Let's Get it On (1973), and Stevie Wonder's Music of My Mind (1972), Talking Book (1972), and Innervisions (1973).
Motown had established branch offices in both New York City and Los Angeles during the mid-1960s, and by 1969 had begun gradually moving more of its operations to Los Angeles. The company moved all of its operations to Los Angeles in June 1972, with a number of artists, among them Martha Reeves, The Four Tops, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Motown's Funk Brothers studio band, either staying behind in Detroit or leaving the company for other reasons. The main objective of Motown's relocation was to branch out into the motion picture industry, and Motown Productions got its start in film by turning out two hit vehicles for Diana Ross: the Billie Holiday biographical film Lady Sings the Blues (1972), and Mahogany (1975). Other Motown films would include Thank God It's Friday (1978), The Wiz (1978) and The Last Dragon (1985). Ewart Abner, who had been associated with Motown since the 1960s, became its president in 1973.
Despite losing Holland–Dozier–Holland, Norman Whitfield, and a number of its other hitmakers by 1975, Motown still had a number of successful artists during the 1970s and 1980s, including Lionel Richie and the Commodores, Rick James, Teena Marie, the Dazz Band and DeBarge. By the mid-1980s, Motown was losing money, and Berry Gordy sold his ownership in Motown to MCA Records and Boston Ventures in June 1988 for $61 million. In 1989, Gordy sold the Motown Productions TV/film operations to Motown executive Suzanne de Passe, who renamed the company de Passe Entertainment and runs it to this day.
During the 1990s, Motown was home to successful recording artists such as Boyz II Men and Johnny Gill, although the company itself remained in a state of turmoil. A revolving door of executives were appointed by MCA to run the company, beginning with Berry Gordy's immediate successor, Jheryl Busby. Busby quarreled with MCA, alleging that the company did not give Motown's product adequate attention or promotion. In 1991, Motown sued MCA to have its distribution deal with the company terminated, and began releasing its product through PolyGram. Polygram purchased Motown from Boston Ventures three years later. In 1994, Busby was replaced by Andre Harrell, the entrepreneur behind Uptown Records. Harrell served as Motown's CEO for just under two years, leaving the company after receiving bad publicity for being inefficient. Danny Goldberg, who ran PolyGram's Mercury Records group, assumed control of Motown, and George Jackson served as president.
By 1998, Motown had added stars such as 702, Brian McKnight, and Erykah Badu to its roster. In December 1998, PolyGram was acquired by Seagram, and Motown was absorbed into the Universal Music Group. Ironically, Seagram had purchased Motown’s former parent MCA in 1995, as such Motown was in effect reunited with many of its MCA corporate siblings (Seagram had, in fact, hoped to build a media empire around Universal, and started by purchasing PolyGram). Universal briefly considered shuttering the floundering label, but instead decided to restructure it. Kedar Massenburg, a producer for Erykah Badu, became the head of the label, and oversaw successful recordings from Badu, McKnight, Michael McDonald, and new Motown artist India.Arie.
Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and The Temptations had remained with the label since its early days, although all except Wonder recorded for other labels for several years. Ross left Motown for RCA from 1981 to 1988, but returned in 1989 and stayed until 2002. Robinson left the label in the early 1990s, and the Temptations left a second time in 2004. Wonder is, today, the only artist from Motown's early period still on the label.
Q-Tip was the final artist on the label, releasing The Renaissance.
In 2005, Massenburg was replaced by Sylvia Rhone, former CEO of Elektra Records. Motown was merged with Universal Records to create the Universal Motown Records and placed under the newly created umbrella division of Universal Motown Republic Group. Motown began celebrating its fiftieth anniversary (January 12, 2009) in late 2008, including the release of a The Complete No. 1's box set containing Motown #1 hits from Billboard's pop, R&B, and disco charts, reissues of classic-era Motown albums on CD, and other planned events, which were released in collaboration with Universal Music Group's catalog division Universal Music Enterprises.
As of summer of 2011, Universal Motown has been separated from Universal Motown Republic Group, has reverted to the original Motown brand, has hired Ethiopia Habtemariam as its Senior Vice President, and is now operated under the The Island Def Jam Music Group. [1][4] Artists from Universal Motown have been transferred to the newly revitalized Motown label.[2][3] On January 25, 2012, it was announced that Ne-Yo would join the Motown label both as an artist as well as the new Senior Vice President of A&R.[8][9]
Motown specialized in a type of soul music it referred to with the trademark "The Motown Sound". Crafted with an ear towards pop appeal, the Motown Sound typically used tambourines to accent the back beat, prominent and often melodic electric bass-guitar lines, distinctive melodic and chord structures, and a call-and-response singing style that originated in gospel music. Pop production techniques such as the use of orchestral string sections, charted horn sections, and carefully arranged background vocals were also used. Complex arrangements and elaborate, melismatic vocal riffs were avoided.[10] Motown producers believed steadfastly in the "KISS principle" (keep it simple, stupid). [11]
The Motown production process has been described as factory-like. The Hitsville studios remained open and active 22 hours a day, and artists would often go on tour for weeks, come back to Detroit to record as many songs as possible, and then promptly go on tour again. Berry Gordy held quality control meetings every Friday morning, and used veto power to ensure that only the very best material and performances would be released. The test was that every new release needed to fit into a sequence of the top five selling pop singles of the week. Several tracks which later became critical and commercial favorites were initially rejected by Gordy; the two most notable being the Marvin Gaye songs, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "What's Going On". In several cases, producers would re-work tracks in hopes of eventually getting them approved at a later Friday morning meeting, as producer Norman Whitfield did with "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and The Temptations' "Ain't Too Proud to Beg".
Many of Motown's best-known songs, including all the early hits for The Supremes, were written by the songwriting trio of Holland–Dozier–Holland (Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland). Other important Motown producers and songwriters included Norman Whitfield, William "Mickey" Stevenson, Smokey Robinson, Barrett Strong, Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, Frank Wilson, Pamela Sawyer & Gloria Jones, James Dean & William Weatherspoon, Johnny Bristol, Harvey Fuqua, Stevie Wonder and Gordy himself.
The style created by the Motown musicians was a major influence on several non-Motown artists of the mid-1960s, such as Dusty Springfield and The Foundations. In the United Kingdom, the Motown Sound became the basis of the northern soul movement. Smokey Robinson said the Motown Sound had little to do with Detroit:
"People would listen to it, and they'd say, 'Aha, they use more bass. Or they use more drums.' Bullshit. When we were first successful with it, people were coming from Germany, France, Italy, Mobile, Alabama. From New York, Chicago, California. From everywhere. Just to record in Detroit. They figured it was in the air, that if they came to Detroit and recorded on the freeway, they'd get the Motown sound. Listen, the Motown sound to me is not an audible sound. It's spiritual, and it comes from the people that make it happen. What other people didn't realize is that we just had one studio there, but we recorded in Chicago, Nashville, New York, L.A.—almost every big city. And we still got the sound."[12]
In addition to the songwriting prowess of the writers and producers, one of the major factors in the widespread appeal of Motown's music was Gordy's practice of using a highly select and tight-knit group of studio musicians, collectively known as "The Funk Brothers", to record the instrumental or "band" tracks of a majority of Motown recordings. Among the studio musicians responsible for the "Motown Sound" were keyboardists Earl Van Dyke, Johnny Griffith, and Joe Hunter; guitarists Joe Messina, Robert White, and Eddie Willis; percussionists Eddie "Bongo" Brown and Jack Ashford; drummers Benny Benjamin, Uriel Jones, and Richard "Pistol" Allen; and bassists James Jamerson and Bob Babbitt. The band's career and work is chronicled in the 2002 documentary film Standing in the Shadows of Motown which publicised the fact that these musicians "played on more number-one records than The Beatles, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys combined."[13]
Much of the Motown Sound came from the use of overdubbed and duplicated instrumentation. Motown songs regularly featured two drummers instead of one (either overdubbed or in unison), as well as three or four guitar lines.[13] Bassist James Jamerson often played his instrument with only his index finger, and created many of the basslines apparent on Motown songs such as "You Can't Hurry Love" by The Supremes.[13]
Artist development was a major part of Motown's operations. The acts on the Motown label were fastidiously groomed, dressed and choreographed for live performances. Motown artists were advised that their breakthrough into the white popular music market made them ambassadors for other African American artists seeking broad market acceptance, and that they should think, act, walk and talk like royalty, so as to alter the less-than-dignified image commonly held by white Americans in that era of black musicians. Given that many of the talented young artists had been raised in housing projects and were short on social and dress skills, this Motown department was not only necessary, it created an elegant style of presentation long associated with the label. The artist development department specialized primarily in working with younger, less experienced acts; experienced performers such as Jr. Walker and Marvin Gaye were exempted from artist development classes.
Many of the young artists participated in an annual package tour called the "Motortown Revue", which was popular, first, on the "chitlin' circuit", and, later, around the world. The tours gave the younger artists a chance to hone their performance and social skills and learn from the more experienced artists.
- Motown Records: Established 1960, Motown was and remains the company's main label for mainstream R&B/soul music (and, today, hip hop music as well). The label's numbering system was combined with those of Tamla and Gordy in 1982, and the label (and company) was purchased by MCA in 1988. Notable Motown artists have included Mary Wells, The Supremes, Four Tops, The Jackson 5, Boyz II Men, Commodores, Lionel Richie, Dazz Band, Brian McKnight, 98 Degrees, and Erykah Badu. Motown Records slogan: "The Sound of Young America."
- Tamla Records: Established 1959, Tamla was a primary subsidiary for mainstream R&B/soul music. Tamla is actually the company's original label: Gordy founded Tamla Records several months before establishing the Motown Record Corporation. The label's numbering system was combined with those of Motown and Gordy in 1982, and the label was merged with Motown in 1988. Notable Tamla artists included Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and The Marvelettes. Tamla was briefly re-activated in 1996 as a reggae label, but only released a 12" single by Cocoa Tea called "New Immigration Law". Tamla Records slogan: "The Sound that Makes the World Go 'Round."
- Gordy Records: Established 1962, Gordy was also a primary subsidiary for mainstream R&B/soul music. Originally known as Miracle Records (slogan: "If It's a Hit, It's a Miracle"), the name was changed in 1962 to avoid confusion with the Miracles singing group. The label's numbering system was combined with those of Motown and Tamla in 1982, and the label was merged with Motown in 1988. Notable Gordy artists included The Temptations, Martha and the Vandellas, The Contours, Edwin Starr, Rick James, The Mary Jane Girls, Teena Marie, and DeBarge. Gordy Records slogan: "It's What's in the Grooves that Counts"
- Tamla-Motown Records: Motown's United Kingdom label, established in March 1965. Distributed by EMI, Tamla-Motown issued the releases on the American Motown labels, using its own numbering system. In some cases, Tamla-Motown would issue singles and albums by Motown artists not released in the United States (for example, the singles "I Second That Emotion" and "Why (Must We Fall in Love)" by Diana Ross & the Supremes with the Temptations).
- Check-Mate Records: Short-lived (1961–1962) R&B/soul subsidiary, purchased from Chess Records. Notable artists included David Ruffin and The Del-Phis (later Martha and the Vandellas).
- Miracle Records: Short-lived (1961) R&B/soul subsidiary that lasted less than a year. Some pressings featured the infamous tagline, "If it's a hit, it's a Miracle." Shut down and reorganized as Gordy Records in 1962. Notable releases included early recordings by Jimmy Ruffin and The Temptations).
- MoWest Records: MoWest was a short-lived (1971–1973) subsidiary for R&B/soul artists based on the West Coast. Shut down when the main Motown office moved to Los Angeles. Notable artists included G. C. Cameron, The Sisters Love, Syreeta Wright, The Four Seasons, Commodores (their first two singles in 1972 and 1973), and Los Angeles DJ Tom Clay. Unlike other Motown releases in the UK which were released by Tamla-Motown, MoWest retained its US label design and logo for its UK releases as well.
- Motown Yesteryear: a label created in late 1970s and used through the 1980s for the reissues of 7-inch singles from all eras of the company's history, after printing in the initial label has ceased.[14] One Motown Yesteryear single made Billboard's Top 40 - The Contours' "Do You Love Me", in 1988, when its inclusion in the film Dirty Dancing revived interest.
- Soul Records: Established 1964, Soul was a R&B/soul subsidiary for releases with less of a pop feel and/or more of a traditional soul/blues feel. Notable Soul artists included Jr. Walker & the All-Stars, Shorty Long, Gladys Knight & the Pips and Jimmy Ruffin. The label was dissolved in 1978.
- V.I.P. Records: Established 1964, V.I.P. was a R&B/soul subsidiary. Notable artists included The Velvelettes, The Spinners, The Monitors, The Elgins and Chris Clark. The label was dissolved in 1974.
- Weed Records: A very short-lived subsidiary. Only one release, Chris Clark's 1969 CC Rides Again album, was issued. This release featured the tongue-in-cheek tagline, "Your Favorite Artists Are On Weed." The logo was a parody of the "Snapping Fingers" logo for Stax Records, but the hand in this case is holding up a peace sign. The name "Weed Records" is now owned by the Tokyo-New York based Weed Records.
- Mel-o-dy Records: Established in 1962 as a secondary R&B/soul music subsidiary, Mel-o-dy later focused on white country music artists. Notable Mel-o-dy artists include Dorsey Burnette. The label was dissolved in 1965.
- Hitsville Records: Founded as Melodyland Records in 1974, the name was changed to Hitsville in 1976. Like Mel-o-dy before it, Hitsville focused on country music. Run by Mike Curb and Ray Ruff, Hitsville's notable artists included Pat Boone and T. G. Sheppard. The label was dissolved in 1977.[15]
The Mel-o-dy and Hitsville catalogs are now managed by Mercury Nashville Records.
- Workshop Jazz Records: Motown's jazz subsidiary, active from 1962 to 1964. Notable Workshop Jazz artists included the George Bohannon Trio and Four Tops (whose recordings for the label went unissued for 30 years). The Workshop Jazz catalog is currently managed by Verve Records.
- Blaze Records A short lived label featuring Jack Ashford released in Sept 1969. An instrumental 'Do The Choo-Choo' with b-side 'Do The Choo-Choo Pt II' written by L. Chandler, E. Willis, J. Ashford with label number 1107.
- Mo Jazz Records: Another jazz label created in the 1990s. Notable artists included Norman Brown, Foley, and J. Spencer. This label (including its roster and catalog) was folded into Verve Records after the PolyGram/Universal merger.
- Rare Earth Records: Established in 1969 after the signing of Rare Earth (after whom the label was named), Rare Earth Records was a subsidiary focusing on rock music by white artists. Notable acts included Rare Earth, R. Dean Taylor, The Pretty Things, Stoney & Meatloaf, Toe Fat, The Cats and Shaun Murphy. The label also was the subsidiary to house the first white band signed to Motown: The Rustix
- Prodigal Records: Purchased by Motown in 1974, Motown used Prodigal Records as a second rock music subsidiary; a sister label to Rare Earth Records. The Rare Earth band moved over to the label following the Rare Earth label's demise. Prodigal was dissolved in 1978.
- Morocco Records: Meaning "MOtown ROCk COmpany," As the name suggests, Morocco was a rock music subsidiary. Active from 1983 to 1984, it was a short-lived attempt to revive the Rare Earth Records concept. Only seven albums were released on the label. Its two most promising acts, Duke Jupiter and the black New Wave trio Tiggi Clay (via their lead singer, Fizzy Qwick) eventually moved to the parent label.
- Divinity Records: Short-lived (1962–1963) gospel subsidiary. With five releases by artists- Wright Specials, Gospel Stars, Bernadettes, and Liz Lands. Label sequence starts at 99004 to 99008, with the final recording We Shall Overcome (for label number 99008) that was recorded in the Greystone Ballroom was withdrawn and transferred to GORDY 7023B of I Have A Dream speech by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr..
- Black Forum Records: A spoken word subsidiary which focused mainly on albums featuring progressive political and pro-civil rights speeches/poetry. Black forum issued recordings by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Stokely Carmichael, Elaine Brown, and others from 1970 until 1973.
- Natural Resources Records: This label was active from 1972 to 1973 and in 1976 as a minor subsidiary for white artists and instrumental bands. Served as a label for Motown, Tamla, and Gordy reissues and Motown compilation albums in 1978 and 1979.
- Motown Latino Records: Short-lived (1982) subsidiary for Spanish language Latin American music.
- Ocean Front Records: Catalog division, originally founded in company's heyday. Closed in 1983
- Biv 10 Records: A hip-hop/R&B label that was founded by Bell Biv Devoe/New Edition member Michael Bivins. The label operated throughout most of the 1990s. Its roster included Another Bad Creation, Boyz II Men, and 702.
- Chisa Records: Motown released output for Chisa, a label owned by Hugh Masekela, from 1969 to 1972 (prior to that, the label was distributed by Vault Records).
- CTI Records:Motown distributed output for CTI Records, a jazz label owned by Creed Taylor, from 1974 to 1975. CTI subsidiaries distributed by Motown included Kudu Records, Three Brothers Records and Salvation Records.
- Three Brothers Records: A short-lived sublabel of CTI Records which had two single releases. One was by a Spike Jones influenced group called The Clams.[17] With a few exceptions, the bulk of CTI's recordings is now owned by Sony Music Entertainment.
- Ecology Records : A very short-lived label owned by Sammy Davis, Jr. and distributed by Motown. Only release: single "In My Own Lifetime"/"I'll Begin Again", by Davis in 1971.
- Gull Records: A UK-based label still in operation, Motown released Gull's output in the US in 1975. Gull had Judas Priest on its roster in 1975, but their LP Sad Wings of Destiny, intended for release by Motown in the US, was issued after the Motown/Gull Deal had fallen through.
- Manticore Records: A record label created by the members of the rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Manticore released albums by ELP and a number of other Progressive rock artists. Manticore was originally distributed in the U.S. by Atlantic Records from 1973 to 1975 but switched to Motown distribution until the label folded in 1977.
- Rayber Records
- IPG Records
- Rich Records
- Summer Camp Records
- Inferno Records
- London American Records: issued the releases for Motown from 1959 to 1961.
- Fontana Records: issued the releases for Motown from 1961 to 1962.
- Oriole Records: issued the releases for Motown from 1962 to 1963.
- Stateside Records: issued the releases for Motown from 1963 to 1964.
- ^ a b "Ethiopia Habtemariam Named Senior Vice President of Motown Records". Billboard.biz. 2011-08-10. http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/record-labels/ethiopia-habtemariam-named-senior-vice-president-1005312132.story. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
- ^ a b [1][dead link]
- ^ a b Sisario, Ben (August 10, 2011). "A Young Music Executive Takes Over at Motown". The New York Times. http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/10/a-young-music-executive-takes-over-at-motown/.
- ^ a b "Brandon Creed Joins Universal Republic And Island Def Jam Motown". Universal Music. 2011-08-15. http://www.universalmusic.com/corporate/universal-republic-and-island-def-jam-motown-expand-creative-teams-with-appointment-of-art. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
- ^ "Motown Museum". Motown Museum. 2011-08-24. http://www.motownmuseum.com. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
- ^ "My Smokey Valentine" by Ron Thibodeaux, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.), Feb. 14, 2009.
- ^ a b "The Motown Mansion!". Motownmansion.com. http://motownmansion.com/. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
- ^ Williams, Brennan (January 25, 2012). "Ne-Yo Leaves Def Jam For Motown Records". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/25/ne-yo-leaves-def-jam-motown-records_n_1231889.html.
- ^ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677870/ne-yo-motown-def-jam.jhtml
- ^ Chin, Brian and David Nathan, "Reflections Of..." The Supremes [CD boxed set liner notes] (New York: Motown Record Co./Universal Music, 2000)
- ^ Williams, Otis and Patricia Romanowski, Temptations (Lanham, MD: Cooper Square, 1988, updated 2002) ISBN 0-8154-1218-5, p. 157
- ^ Hirshey, Gerri (1994 [1984]). Nowhere to Run: The Story of Soul Music. New York: Da Capo Press. p. 187. ISBN 0-306-80581-2.
- ^ a b c Justman, Paul (2002). Standing in the Shadows of Motown (DVD). Santa Monica, California: Artisan Entertainment.
- ^ "Diana-web.com". http://www.diana-web.com/discography/diana/re-yesteryear.jpg. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
- ^ Spencer Leigh (October 4, 2005). "Obituaries - Ray Ruff". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/ray-ruff-509467.html. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
- ^ "Mad Sounds Recordings". Discogs.com. http://www.discogs.com/label/Mad+Sounds+Recordings. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
- ^ "The Clams". Petelevin.com. http://www.petelevin.com/clams.htm. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
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| Universal Music Group |
- Universal Music Publishing Group
- Interscope-Geffen-A&M (Interscope Records, Geffen Records, A&M Records, A&M/Octone Records, DGC Records)
- The Island Def Jam Music Group (Island Records, Def Jam Recordings, Mercury Records, Motown Records)
- Universal Republic Records
- Universal Music Group Nashville (MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Lost Highway Records)
- Decca Label Group (Decca Records, Universal Music Classical)
- Verve Music Group (GRP Records, Impulse! Records, Verve Records, Verve Forecast Records)
- Universal Music Enterprises (Hip-O Records)
- Show Dog-Universal Music
- Universal Music Latin Entertainment (Universal Music Latino, Disa Records, Fonovisa Records, Machete Music)
- Universal Music Group Distribution (Universal Music Distribution, Fontana Distribution, UMGD Digital)
- Universal Music UK (Polydor Records, Mercury Music Group, Island Records Group, Geffen UK, Universal Music TV, Decca Records (UK))
- V2/Co-Operative Music
- V2 Records (Cooperative Music)
- Bravado
- Twenty-First Artists
- Trinifold
- 5B
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| Canal+ Group |
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| Maroc Telecom (51%) |
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| SFR |
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| GVT (100%) |
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| Activision Blizzard (52%) |
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