Interscope Geffen A&M Records

Interscope Geffen A&M Records (sometimes abbreviated as IGA) is an American record company. Its parent company is the Universal Music Group, a subsidiary of Paris-based media conglomerate Vivendi S.A.

History

Interscope Geffen A&M Records was established in 1999. A merger of the Polygram-owned labels Geffen and A&M and Universal's Interscope, it followed the 1998 purchase of PolyGram Records by Seagram, then the parent of Universal Music Group.

As a result of the merger, a significant percentage of artists and bands were dropped from A&M and Geffen, and though both continued to exist as labels, 280 jobs were eliminated and A&M's Charlie Chaplin lot offices were closed. The reorganization, expected to produce $300 million in savings annually, was described by the Los Angeles Times as underscoring the "changing economics and direction of the music business."

As independent labels, A&M and Geffen were revered and had achieved substantial commercial and artistic success. Both had been sold by their founders, however, and both had suffered from budget restraints and unproductive band signings over the previous years. At the time of the merger neither label had records in the Billboard Top 40 while Interscope had "defined the new sound of young America" with hit records from artists including Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, Nine Inch Nails, No Doubt, Limp Bizkit, and Bush, among others. Interscope co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field were named co-chairmen of IGA at its launch.

A&M Records

A&M Records was an American historical record label. A&M was formerly an independent label founded by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss (which the name A&M also stood for the last names of the label founders Alpert and Moss) in 1962.

Due to the success A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distributing releases from Polydor Ltd. from the UK. Throughout its operations, A&M housed well-known acts such as Captain & Tennille, Sting, Bryan Adams, Burt Bacharach, Liza Minnelli, The Carpenters, Paul Williams, Janet Jackson, Cat Stevens, Carole King, Amy Grant, Joan Baez, The Police, CeCe Peniston, Soundgarden, and Sheryl Crow.

As PolyGram was acquired by Seagram and dissolved into Universal Music Group in 1998, A&M's operations were ceased in January 1999 when it was merged with Geffen and Interscope Records to form the record company Interscope Geffen A&M Records. In 2007, Interscope announced that the A&M name was revived and was to be merged with Octone Records to form A&M Octone Records which operated until 2013, when A&M Octone was folded into Interscope.

Interscope Records

Interscope Records is an American record label. It is a division of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, whose parent company is the Universal Music Group, a subsidiary of Vivendi S.A.

Interscope was founded in 1989 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Time Warner's Atlantic Records. At the time, it differed from most record companies by giving decision-making authority to its A&R staff, and allowing artists and producers complete creative control. It had its first hit records less than a year after it was founded and achieved profitability in 1993.

In 1992, Interscope acquired the exclusive rights to market and distribute the hardcore rap label Death Row. Albums by Death Row artists including 2Pac, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Doggy Dogg were at the center of the mid-'90s gangsta rap controversy, and as a result, Time Warner severed ties with Interscope by selling its 50 percent stake back to Field and Iovine for $115 million in 1995. In 1996, 50% of the label was acquired by the MCA Music Entertainment Group for a reported $200 million.

N.E.R.D

N*E*R*D (a backronym of No-One Ever Really Dies) is an American rock, funk, and hip hop band. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were signed by Teddy Riley to Virgin Records as a duo, The Neptunes. After producing songs for several artists throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the production duo formed the band with Shay Haley as a side project of The Neptunes in 1999. N*E*R*D's debut album, In Search Of..., sold 603,000 copies in the United States and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was also awarded the second annual Shortlist Music Prize. The band's second album, Fly or Die, sold 412,000 copies in the United States, but shipped at least 500,000 units, certifying it Gold.

In 2005, N*E*R*D ended their contract with Virgin and disbanded. Three years later, the band reunited under Star Trak Entertainment, a subsidiary of Interscope Records established by Williams and Hugo. The band's third album, Seeing Sounds, released in 2008, sold just under 80,000 copies in its first week. The album was followed by Nothing released in 2010.