the NEW Motown is MOVING!!!

[dvus7]

Motown is moving back to LA and this time it is a separate entity from Universal Group. They announced Ethiopia Habtemariam their New President!!!!

http://www.ethiosports.com/2014/04/01/ethiopia-habtemariam-promoted-to-president-of-motown-records/

[soulster]

What is today?

[dvus7]

What is today?

I don't play those games!!!

[carole cucumber]

http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/128364/umg-re-establishes-def-jam-motown-island-as-stand-

[carole cucumber]

http://www.universalmusic.com/corporate/detail/2736

[carole cucumber]

Motown appears to currently be the label on which artists more recently signed to the label are placed.
I see no mention of UMe, the division which brings us the classic re-issues we so love. With Barry Weiss stepping down, perhaps the budget for Motown re-issues may be altered in our favor- one can only hope and pray.
I assume UMe will stay on the east coast, with Harry & team securely in place.

[soulster]

I don't play those games!!!

I saw that it was an Ethiopian-American website, and the first name of the new CEO just happens to be Ethiopia. Then, at the time, I saw a link to a man with a first name that is the same as another country. Two red flags.

But, the story sounds legit.

This helps on a number of levels:

1) This should help Los Angeles re-establish itself a a music center.

2) This will mean that, even though Motown is still under the Universal family, under the also West-coast Capitol umbrella, it will have autonomy which should allow the company much greater latitude to do what they need to do to function as a legacy label and a new music company.

3) This could mean that we will see more Motown reissues.

4) Some of the producers and/or engineers who have worked on Motown reissues in the past will be closer to home, so to speak.


Through all of this, I am actually more concerned with Capitol, and the ability for the company to reissue their classic R&B titles now.

[soulster]

I assume UMe will stay on the east coast, with Harry & team securely in place.

I may be mistaken, but I thought Harry was already in California.

[Ngroove]

Say, who is still / will be on newly independent once again Motown's roster? Who is Motown's, and who will stay with Universal?

[Roberta75]

What is today?

This is true news Motown IS moving back to LA so your comment was uncall for.

http://variety.com/2014/music/news/umg-dissolves-island-def-jam-barry-weiss-steps-down-1201150999/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-executive-barry-weiss-steps-692511

[MrTopCat]

I'm so glad that Motown is gonna be a standalone label again and not just a division. They've got some great talent on their roster and I'm sure Ne Yo's gonna be of great help to all of them.

[RossHolloway]

Does anyone know if Erykah Badu is still on the Motown label?

[soulster]

...so your comment was uncall for.
geez! You guyz are so f*kin serious all the time!

[MrTopCat]

Does anyone know if Erykah Badu is still on the Motown label?

She's listed on the label's Artists section, so yes :)

[Roberta75]

geez! You guyz are so f*kin serious all the time!

Please please dont use foul language when adressing me. i dont appreciate it.
This is from the good book of James so kindly take notice.

And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

[carole cucumber]

I may be mistaken, but I thought Harry was already in California.

If he is, then he sure must be racking up the frequent flyer miles:

http://nypost.com/2014/03/22/professor-questlove-schools-nyu-students-in-prince-101/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_medium=SocialFlow

[Bokiluis]

There has been such a revolving doors of presidents since Mr. Gordy sold it. The late Jheryl Busby came on board with a revival of the MCA black music division scoring success with Boyz II Men, New Edition, Stephanie Mills, Guy, marketing and distributing the once thriving Uptown Records and several more. He seemed like the best bet to revive the iconic label. They were able to keep the flagship veterans from Stevie, Diana, The Temptations, Smokey giving the label gravitas. I personally think they weren't patient enough with Busby. He didn't have the A&R credibility like Mr. Gordy and Smokey as songwriters. Then a totally disastrous move, they get dazzled by Uptown's success and bring on Andre Harrell. The dude took out full page ads and billboards in major markets touting himself with the confusing tag line "it's on". What universal failed to see, it was Puffy that had the vision at Uptown. Clive scooped him up when L.A. Reid heard that he was looking to start his own label. How did a Universal miss that opportunity?Harrell reportedly signed so many production deals there was little organic talent that the label could call its own. That meant less profits for the label. Al B. Sure supposedly got a multi-million dollar deal and despite his enormous success with his debut, had little else to show for it. Then I believe it was the late George Jackson who tragically transitioned on before a year was up. In comes Kedar Massenburg with Erykah Badu and one or two other gold level noveau soul acts [[Chico DeBarge) under his belt. Once again, he seemed like the best chance of correcting the mistakes of the previous hirings. Once again, no patience. He was out the door in less than 3-4 years. Then comes Doug's former assistant, the often controversial Sylvia Rhone, who reportedly caused Anita Baker to demand being released from Elektra. Elektra was one of the premier rock labels with only Keith Sweat and LSG as most meaningful to the urban marketplace.
Mr. Gordy had built a major crossover label...by 1968, commanding no less than 5/Top Singles in December 1968, Motown was not viewed as only a "black label", nothing wrong with that, but, it does limit your perception. They switch artists like Erykah Badu back and forth from Motown to Universal. A friend of mine was the Motown West Coast Sales/Marketing Regional and he often told me that he could not break the perception of being a "black label" losing out on many frontline promotions with the major record chains. Motown Month at Tower Records was even hard to secure. Then Neyo comes in. I cannot even say what his contribution has been. And now another label reorganization. You lose the confidence of your artists if ever other week their is a new president. The Temptations asked to be moved to the new experimental New a Door label at Universal. They were done with Motown. Same for Smokey who is now signed to Verve, same thing for Diana. So who and what is Motown today? I cannot answer that. I am now painfully aware when I classify myself as a child of Motown and the classic rock era, how dated that makes me sound. It's okay because I am still in love with the music. When Andre Harrell made that costly move to New York, it further hurt the label's identity. I am not sure what moving back to Los Angeles will do for the label. It ain't gonna be cheap to relocate executives and administrative tools.
Though Mr. Gordy sold the label for a poorly underrated $61 million, he triumphed when Polygram ended up paying over $325 million primarily for that stunning catalog.
Mr. Gordy, Smokey and Suzanne DePasse have long lived in Los Angeles. But in yet another bit of irony, he's enjoying massive success in New York with "Motown, The Musical". At 84, could he be a label consultant, more active than his Executive Emeritus title? Probably wishful thinking on my part.
I will always loved Motown. There was a time in the 70s when I bought an album, unheard, just because it was on a Motown label. Them days are long gone. I did buy the Toni Braxton/Babyface duet album on Motown. But do I associate them with Motown? What do you think?

[Bokiluis]

Harry is based in the Universal New York offices at 50th and 8th....the last time I saw him.

[Ngroove]

Heyy, Toni Braxton / Babyface are TOP names, TOP! Probably the meaning of nineties sophisticated sensual adult contemporary soul! Like two birds in one stone, top names in R&B AND in Motown! But hey, even Universal years, Motown had good times, although was still a handful of years ago, turn on the radio, or watch BET, and behold, Profyle / Erykah Badu / India.Arie / Brian McKnight / Remy Shand / Kem / Temptations / Stevie Wonder. There was a time when under the Universal / Motown imprint, I couldn't tell who was Universal and who was Motown, but I trust under recemented reunified Motown, good times will come again!

[Ngroove]

Taking a look at Motown.com's roster of whose currently on the roll, hey....I see "B5". Anybody remember them for singin' this sweet rendition of this Motown standard?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jXS_bUMpww&feature=kp

[Bokiluis]

Does anyone know if Erykah Badu is still on the Motown label?

Erykah's last album "Return of the Ank Pt.2" is on Universal Motown.

[MrTopCat]

Erykah's last album "Return of the Ank Pt.2" is on Universal Motown.

That was before they relaunched Motown as its own sub division [[and now its own label yet again). Toni Braxton & Babyface's album managed to sell some pretty good numbers [[and it's still selling) and their leading single was number 1 and has sold over 1 million copies [[that was a couple of months ago). Stevie's got an album coming out this year, so I think those big names are going to help put the label back on the map.

[soulster]

Bokilouis,

The move, I believe, was to get them closer to Capitol, under which umbrella they will now fall under. The advantage is that they will also get distance from Universal.

[Motown Andy]

I read the thread and am kind of perplexed by all of it. Let me simplify it for everyone:
Motown, the current label, was, and is, owned by Universal Music Group. That has not changed. Last year the label was moved as a free-standing label, into a the Island Def Jam [[IDJ) label group. It has now been moved out of that label group, and is now back to being free standing, yet under the Capitol division. Capitol was aquired by Universal with the EMI purchase in 2012. Motown label heads moved to LA at that time, and although a rather overlooked announcement was made, it must have gotten swept under the rug because this new announcement has gained quite a bit of attention.

Motown Catalog [[different from Motown, the current label), was and is under Universal Music Enterprises [[UME) that has not changed either. UME handles all of the Universal label's catalogs [[A&M, Casablanca, ABC, Verve, Decca, MGM, 20th Century, Polydor, Blue Thumb, etc., etc., etc.).

I hope this helps clarify things a bit more.

[sophisticated_soul]

Now the story makes sense to me. Good to know that the Motown catalog has stayed with UME. Thanks for the clarification, Andy.:)

[Ngroove]

As long as the quality continues to roll, and I could tell who's Motown and who's owner party company - such as was Drake's "Thank Me Later" Universal, or was it Motown?

[MrTopCat]

As long as the quality continues to roll, and I could tell who's Motown and who's owner party company - such as was Drake's "Thank Me Later" Universal, or was it Motown?

Thank me later was on Universal Motown, Cash Money and Young Money.

[Bokiluis]

I did state that I bought "Love, Marriage & Divorce" by Toni/Babyface, I'm hardly a hip hop head but I love Drake's "Nothing Was the Same" and both Erykah Badu's "New Amerykah Pt.1 & 2" so I guess I'm still a supporter of the current Motown/Universal.

"Cooley High" is on TVONE right now. Scratching my head how I never saw this before. All Motown from start to finish....