Berry Gordy's Labels

[texassoul]

Berry Gordy's primary labels were Motown, Tamla, Gordy and Soul. What were the criteria used to determine which artists were signed/assigned to which label?

[marymary]

This is a good resource: http://motownjunkies.co.uk/labels/

It wasn't particularly scientific, since the labels were orignally conceived to make DJs less worried about playing too much Motown, so there will be plenty of exceptions but in general, Motown was music aimed for white pop audiences, Tamla/Gordy was more r&b and Soul was the blues-iest.

[tamlaUK]

Don't forget V.I.P, Rare Earth and Natural Rescources

[BigAl]

I always wondered, and still wonder, exactly why some acts would get shifted from one of the labels to another. I suppose, in addition to the audiences at which the acts' musical styles were aimed, that it might have also been an effort to keep the numbers even among the labels with no one label being glutted or something. The Supremes were moved from Tamla to Motown after a couple of releases. The Four tops were moved from Workshop to Motown [[understandable, since their style changed radically at that time and Workshop was a jazz label). Kim Weston was moved from Tamla to Gordy. Chris Clark was moved from VIP to Motown and then to Weed [[the only release on that short-lived label). The Spinners were moved from Motown to VIP. The Velvelettes were moved from VIP to Soul. I'm sure I'm missing some but it was kind of like a game of musical chairs.

[reese]

I always wondered, and still wonder, exactly why some acts would get shifted from one of the labels to another. I suppose, in addition to the audiences at which the acts' musical styles were aimed, that it might have also been an effort to keep the numbers even among the labels with no one label being glutted or something. The Supremes were moved from Tamla to Motown after a couple of releases. The Four tops were moved from Workshop to Motown [[understandable, since their style changed radically at that time and Workshop was a jazz label). Kim Weston was moved from Tamla to Gordy. Chris Clark was moved from VIP to Motown and then to Weed [[the only release on that short-lived label). The Spinners were moved from Motown to VIP. The Velvelettes were moved from VIP to Soul. I'm sure I'm missing some but it was kind of like a game of musical chairs.

When David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks left the Tempts [[Gordy), their solo releases came out on different labels: Ruffin on Motown, and Kendricks on Tamla.

[midnight johnny]

The Motown Junkies source leaves out one or 2 Motown labels....here is another source.....http://www.seabear.se/Detroit1.htm

[radionixon]

The Motown Junkies source leaves out one or 2 Motown labels....

Hello!

It's not meant to be a comprehensive list of all "Motown labels", as I don't list imprints with just one 45 release separately [[those are all collated under "misc", or the page would get unwieldy.)

So far, that "misc" heading has included records released under the branding of Rayber, Rich, George Alexander, IPG, Summer Camp, "Hitsville USA" and the Advertising Council, and there are a lot [[!) more of these one-shot deals to come through the Sixties and Seventies [[Black Forum, Ecology, Gaiee, Natural Resources etc.) - but it seemed crazy to set up a separate page for each of them when there'd only be one entry to come.

[radionixon]

I always wondered, and still wonder, exactly why some acts would get shifted from one of the labels to another. I suppose, in addition to the audiences at which the acts' musical styles were aimed, that it might have also been an effort to keep the numbers even among the labels with no one label being glutted or something.

That's pretty much exactly it, yes. The only firm exception was the ironically-named VIP, whose releases were traditionally allocated a lower marketing budget, and therefore that was seen as a lower priority label [[though many of the actual records released on VIP are clearly awesome).

Very broadly, Motown tended slightly more towards white radio, Soul towards black radio and Tamla and Gordy somewhere in between, but in practice those distinctions were often pretty arbitrary, and acts would sometimes just be transferred between the labels to balance that quarter's release schedules.

[BigAl]

The only firm exception was the ironically-named VIP, whose releases were traditionally allocated a lower marketing budget, and therefore that was seen as a lower priority label [[though many of the actual records released on VIP are clearly awesome).

I had always figured that VIP was sort of where they pooled their B-list acts. Chris Clark, being favored of Gordy if you catch my drift, got a "promotion" to Motown when her album finally got pressed. When her second album appeared on Weed, I suspect it was a kind of joke [[maybe something she and Deke Richards cooked up?), since the label's logo was clearly a parody of Stax's and the slogan was, "Your favorite artists are on Weed," and the label bore no reference to the Motown corporation. Thus, I doubt she had been "demoted." By that time she was moving into administration anyway.

When the Spinners were "demoted" from Motown to VIP, I found it ironic that they then turned in their biggest hit for the company: "It's a Shame," and then flew the coop to Atlantic where they really took off. The bigger surprise to me was when The Velvelettes were moved from VIP to Soul, since that grouping [[Cal, Annette and Sandy) was a second-generation project and the original grouping hadn't hit it very big in the years after "Needle." I also wondered why smooth-singing Barbara Randolph was assigned to the grittier Soul label.

[texassoul]

Many thanks for all of your replies. I've always wondered about this.