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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 (whose first release was Marv Johnson's "Come to Me" on January 21, 1959) and Motown (first release was the Miracles' "Bad Girl" on September 6, 1959). 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, 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 part of Universal Music Group when they purchased PolyGram in 1999. Within Universal, Motown was incorporated into various other subsidiaries, including Island Def Jam Music Group, until 2014, with Ethiopia Habtemariam's appointment as president coming when it became a label in its own right again, under Universal's Capitol Music Group arm. Habtemariam was appointed Chairman/CEO of Motown in March 2021.

Over the course of its history, the Motown Corporation has owned or distributed more than 45 labels in varying genres.

President of Motown from 1988 to 1998: Jheryl Busby.
President of Motown from 1998 to 2004: Kedar Massenburg.
President of Motown from 2004 to 2011: Sylvia Rhone.

Label code: LC 0881 or LC 00881

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