Research into music labels

1. Research into music labels
Harvey Coltman

2. 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.

3. The Island/Def Jam
The 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.

4. Virgin Records
Virgin 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]

5. Motown
Motown 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.