Motown

The legendary Motown label was founded on January 12, 1959 and incorporated as Motown Recording Corporation on April 14, 1960 by Berry Gordy, Jr., who merged his two successful imprints, Tamla and Motown. It was one of the most successful independent record companies in history. Its stable of hit-making artists such as The Miracles, The Supremes, The Temptations and many others, along with a talented staff of musicians and songwriters, collectively created the "Motown Sound," a world famous hybrid of soul, doo-wop, rhythm & blues and pop. Its motto was "The Sound of Young America".

Motown remained independent until 1988 when MCA Records and private equity firm Boston Ventures teamed up to buy the label from Gordy for $61 million. It was bought again by PolyGram in 1993, becoming a part of the Universal Music Group after it purchased PolyGram in 1999. Within Universal, Motown was incorporated into various other subsidiaries including Universal Motown Records Group from 2000 to 2011 and later moved to Island Def Jam Music Group until both label groups were disbanded by UMG in 2014.

In January 2023 under Chivon Dean's new leadership as president and CEO, Motown has been divested from the Capitol Music Group while remaining under the Universal Music Group. Over its history, the Motown