Motown

Motown Record Company, L.P., also known as Tamla-Motown outside of the United States, is a record label specializing in the musical genres of R&B, pop, soul music, and hip-hop music. The label was originally based out of Detroit, Michigan ("Motor Town"), and is named for the city's association with the automobile industry. Motown was the first record label owned by an African American to become a widespread international success, and played an important role in the integration of popular music.

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Originally incorporated on December 14 1959 by Berry Gordy, Jr. as Tamla Records, Motown has, over the course of its history, owned or distributed more than 45 labels in varying genres, including Mel-o-dy, Miracle, Gordy, Soul, Rare Earth, and Mo-west. Motown left Detroit for Los Angeles, California in 1972, and remained an independent company until 1988, when Gordy sold the company to MCA. Now headquartered in both Detroit and New York City, Motown Records is today a subsidiary of the Universal Motown Records Group, itself a subsidiary of Universal Music.

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In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiaries were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as The Motown Sound, a style of soul music with distinctive characteristics, including the use of tambourine along with drums, bass instrumentation, a distinctive melodical and chord structure, and a "call and response" singing style originating in gospel music.

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Record label: A record label is a brand created by companies that specialize in manufacturing, distributing and promoting audio and video recordings, on various formats including compact discs, LPs, DVD-Audio, SACDs, and cassettes. The name derives from the paper label at the center of a gramophone record (what i...

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Motown related Images and Photos (experimental)

Motown : Music, Money, Sex, And Power (Paperback)

Motown Revue at the Whiskey A-Go-Go