| Geffen Records | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Parent company | Universal Music Group |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Founder | David Geffen |
| Distributing label | Interscope-Geffen-A&M (US) Polydor Records (Outside US) |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | US |
| Location | Santa Monica, California |
| Official website | Geffen Records |
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group. Universal Music Group (UMG is the largest Business group and family of Record labels in the Recording industry. David Geffen (born February 21, 1943) is an American Record executive, Film producer, Theatrical producer and philanthropist Interscope-Geffen-A&M is an American Record label, owned by Universal Music Group. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Polydor Records is a Record label currently headquartered in the UK, and is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Universal Music Group (UMG is the largest Business group and family of Record labels in the Recording industry. Interscope-Geffen-A&M is an American Record label, owned by Universal Music Group.
Contents |
Company history
Beginnings
Geffen Records was founded in 1980 by music industry businessman David Geffen who, in the early 1970s, had founded Asylum Records. Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) David Geffen (born February 21, 1943) is an American Record executive, Film producer, Theatrical producer and philanthropist This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. Asylum Records is an American Record label, owned by Warner Music Group, founded by agent-managers David Geffen and Elliot Roberts in 1971 Geffen stepped down from Asylum after being diagnosed with a cancerous cyst, but following confirmation that the growth was benign, he returned to work and struck a deal with Warner Bros. Records to create Geffen Records. Warner Bros Records Inc is an American Record label that operates as a wholly owned Subsidiary of Warner Music Group. Warner provided 100 percent of the funding for the label's operations, while Geffen retained 50 percent of the profits, and distributed its records. (International distribution outside the US and Canada, meanwhile, moved from WEA in 1982 to CBS until 1990. )
Geffen Records' first signee was disco superstar Donna Summer, whose gold-selling album The Wanderer became the label's first release in 1980. Disco is a Genre of dance-oriented music whose origins are hard to define Donna Summer (born LaDonna Adrian Gaines December 31, 1948) is an American Singer-songwriter and Musician who gained In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of Albums and singles sold through retail and The Wanderer is a 1980 Album by Donna Summer. Summer had made her name the previous decade as the most successful female artist of the Disco The label followed it up with Double Fantasy by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Double Fantasy is the comeback album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, released in 1980 initially on the newly-formed Geffen Records, and then John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (born born in Tokyo on February 18 1933 is a Japanese Artist and Musician. It was Lennon's first album of all-new material in several years. Two days after it entered the charts, Lennon was assassinated in New York City. Subsequently, the album went on to sell millions and gave Geffen its first number-one album and single (the rights to the album are now owned by EMI). The EMI Group is a British music company comprising the major record company EMI Music – which operates several labels and is based in Kensington in
Geffen Records also had early success with several big 80s acts including: Quarterflash, Oxo, Asia, Wang Chung, Kylie Minogue, and a pre-Van Halen Sammy Hagar. Quarterflash was an American rock group formed in Portland Oregon in 1980 OXO is an American new wave pop band formed by Ish 'Angel' Ledesma in 1983. Asia is a rock group formed in 1981. The band was labelled a supergroup and included former members of veteran Progressive rock bands Wang Chung are a British New Wave Musical group. The group found their greatest success in the United States with five Top 40 hits including Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE, born 28 May 1968 is an Australian pop Singer - Songwriter and occasional Actress. Samuel Roy "Sammy" Hagar (born October 13 1947) known as "The Red Rocker" is an American rock guitarist singer
As the 1980s progressed, Geffen Records continued to sign a handful of established music icons, including Elton John, Cher, Don Henley, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, and Jennifer Holliday. Sir Elton Hercules John CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947 is an English pop / rock Singer, Composer Cher ( IPA: /ʃɛr/ born Cherilyn Sarkisian, May 20 1946 Donald Hugh " Don " Henley (born July 22, 1947, in Gilmer Texas, U Joni Mitchell, CC (born Roberta Joan Anderson on November 7 1943) is a Canadian Musician, Songwriter, and Neil Percival Young OM (born November 12, 1945, Toronto Ontario) is a Canadian Singer-songwriter, Musician Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950 in Chobham, Surrey, England) is an English Musician and Songwriter. Jennifer-Yvette Holliday (born October 19, 1960, Riverside Texas) is a two-time Grammy Award -winning American Singer Toward the end of the decade, the company also began making a name for itself as an emerging rock label, thanks to the success of Whitesnake (US only), Guns N' Roses, Tesla and the mainstream comeback of '70s era rockers Aerosmith. Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums. Whitesnake are an English Hard rock band founded in 1977 by David Coverdale (formerly of Deep Purple) Guns N' Roses is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 Tesla is an American Hard rock band formed in Sacramento, California in 1984 and have sold over 16 million albums in the United States Aerosmith is an American Hard rock band sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston " and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band" This prompted Geffen to create a subsidiary label, named DGC Records in 1990, which focused on more progressive sounds and would later embrace the emergence of alternative rock. DGC Records was a subsidiary label of Geffen Records. Launched in 1990, DGC (acronym for “David Geffen Company” was created as a response to the success Geffen Alternative rock (also called alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative; known primarily in the UK as indie) is a genre of Geffen also distributed the first incarnation of Def American Recordings through Warner Bros. This article is about the record label For the Johnny Cash album released by that same label see American Recordings (album American Recordings from 1988 to 1990.
Acquisition by MCA
After a decade of operating through Warner, when its contract with the company expired, the label was sold to MCA Music Entertainment (later renamed Universal Music Group) in 1990. MCA Records was an American -based record company owned by MCA Inc Universal Music Group (UMG is the largest Business group and family of Record labels in the Recording industry. The deal ultimately earned David Geffen an estimated US$800 million in stock (until Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.'s cash acquistion of MCA in 1991, made Geffen a billionaire) and an employment contract that ran until 1995. Following the sale, Geffen Records operated as one of MCA's leading independently managed labels. Geffen stepped down as head of the label in 1995 and collaborated with Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg to form DreamWorks SKG, an ambitious multimedia empire dealing in film, television, books, and music. Jeffrey Katzenberg (born December 21, 1950 in New York City) is a Jewish American Film producer and CEO Steven Allan Spielberg, KBE (Hon (born December 18 1946 is an American Film director, Screenwriter and producer. DreamWorks LLC, also known as DreamWorks Pictures, DreamWorks SKG, or DreamWorks Studios, is a major American Film studio Geffen Records would distribute releases on the new operation's DreamWorks Records subsidiary. DreamWorks Records was an American Record label. Founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a subsidiary
Interscope-Geffen-A&M
Universal Music Group acquired PolyGram in 1998, resulting in a corporate reorganization of labels. Interscope-Geffen-A&M is an American Record label, owned by Universal Music Group. PolyGram was the name from 1972 of the Major label recording company started by Philips as a holding company for its music interests in 1945 Geffen Records, along with A&M Records, was subsequently merged into Interscope Records. A&M Records is an American Record label owned by Universal Music Group which operates through the Interscope-Geffen-A&M division Interscope Records is an American Record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label Although Geffen would continue to exist as a brand, it was downsized to fit into the greater expansion of Interscope.
By 2000, despite Geffen Records no longer being independently operated within UMG and taking a more submissive position behind Interscope, it continued to do steady business—so much so that in 2003, UMG folded MCA Records into Geffen. See also 2000 in music (UK Musical groups established in 2000 Record labels See also 2003 in music (UK Musical groups established in 2003 Record labels MCA Records was an American -based record company owned by MCA Inc Though Geffen had been substantially a pop-rock label, its absorption of MCA (and its back catalogues) led to a more diverse roster; with former MCA artists such as Mary J. Blige, The Roots, Blink-182, and Common now featured on the label. Mary Jane Blige (surname pronounced /blaɪʒ/) (born January 11, 1971) is an American Singer-songwriter, Rapper The Roots are an American hip-hop band from Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Blink-182 was an American Pop Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr (born March 13 1972) better known by his Stage name Common (and previously known as Common Sense) is an Meanwhile, DreamWorks Records also folded, with artists such as Nelly Furtado and Rufus Wainwright being absorbed by Geffen as well. Nelly Kim Furtado (born December 2 1978 is a Canadian Singer-songwriter, record producer actor and instrumentalist, who also holds Portuguese DGC Records was folded in 2003 and now only functions to reissue Nirvana’s recordings. Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen Washington.
Geffen’s absorption of the MCA and DreamWorks labels, along with its continuing to sign new acts such as Ashlee Simpson, Bethany Hamilton, Angels & Airwaves, Snoop Dogg, and The Game, had boosted the company to the extent that it began gaining equal footing with the main Interscope label, leading some industry insiders to speculate that it could revert back to operating as an independently managed imprint at UMG again. Bethany Meilani Hamilton (born February 8, 1990) is an American surfer. Angels & Airwaves (also known as "AVA" is an Alternative rock group fronted by former Blink-182 and Box Car Racer guitarist/vocalist Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr (born October 20 1971 His mother nicknamed him " Snoopy " as a child because of the way he dressed and because of his love of Jayceon Terrell Taylor (born November 29 1979 better known by his Stage name The Game, is an American Rapper. At the end of 2007, however, Geffen was absorbed further into Interscope, laying off sixty employees. This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2007
Labels under Geffen
See also
External links
Universal Music Group (UMG is the largest Business group and family of Record labels in the Recording industry. American King Music is a Hip hop and R&B Record label founded in 2006 by Mims and his business partner Corey Llewellyn Doggystyle Records (originally Dogghouse Records) is a Record label founded by Snoop Dogg at the end of his self-described " Servitude " Flawless Records is a Record label formed by Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst as a division of Geffen Records. Kon Live Distribution is a Record label owned and founded by R&B singer Akon. This is a list of artists who have recorded for Geffen Records. This is a list of notable Record labels Due to the large number of entries the list has been divided by the first character of the label's name See alsoDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic