Research into music labels

Harvey Coltman

Warner Bros.Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. Rob Cavallo serves as Chairman of the company.

Warner Bros. Records was established in 1958 as the recorded music division of the American movie studio Warner Bros. Pictures. For most of its existence it was one of a group of labels owned and operated by larger parent corporations. The sequence of companies that controlled Warner Bros. and its allied labels evolved through a convoluted series of corporate mergers and acquisitions from the early 1960s to the early 2000s. Over this period, Warner Bros. Records grew from a struggling minor player in the industry to become one of the top recording labels in the world.

The Island/Def JamThe Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American record label group formed in 1999 when the Universal Music Group (UMG) merged two of its daughter companies Island Records and Def Jam Recordings. In 2011, Motown Records was split from the Universal Motown Republic Group and was subsequently merged into the Island Def Jam Music Group. Barry Weiss served as Chairman and CEO of the company. As of February 2014, artists on the IDJMG roster included Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Kanye West, 2 Chainz, and Iggy Azalea. On April 1, 2014, following the resignation of CEO Barry Weiss, it was announced that Island Def Jam will divide into three separate entities: Def Jam Recordings, Island Records and Motown Records.

Virgin RecordsVirgin Records, Ltd. is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell and Tom Newman in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, the Human League, Culture Club, Simple Minds, Lenny Kravitz, dc Talk, the Smashing Pumpkins, Mike Oldfield, Spice Girls and more on their list of artists. It was later sold to Thorn EMI in 1992.

Wholly owned by Universal Music Group after its purchase of EMI in 2012, UMG absorbed its British operations to create Virgin EMI Records on March 2013, which absorbed Mercury Records UK.[2]

MotownMotown is an American record company. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960, in Detroit, Michigan. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has also become a nickname for Detroit. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American-owned record label which achieved significant crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels (including Tamla Motown, the brand used outside the US) 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. During the 1960s, Motown achieved spectacular success for a small record company: 79 records in the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 record chart between 1960 and 1969.