Yes, this has probably been discussed here before, however, I would really appreciate any answer you may know as fact [[or even hypothesis). Why did Motown operate with different labels [[such as Gordy, Tamla, Soul, etc) as opposed to everything being under the umbrella of just a Motown label? I believe I may have read from a book about Motown that it was for tax reasons. Was there indeed a financial incentive to have different labels from one company?

Also, what factors determined who would be assigned to what label? My thinking is that although there was a definite Motown sound, each individual label had its own 'vibe' to it regarding its artists and the 'sound." Just my opinion, however, I felt the artists' output on the actual Motown label was the sound that could identify more with the pop sound in American music during the 60s. Tamla, Gordy, and Soul each had more of an r&b sound to various degrees. All of this is my opinion and perception. We do know that there were several other subsidiary labels, each with their own vibe.

I also recall that because the Motown company was putting out so much good music during the 60s, dee jays around the country might have been put off by seeing or playing so much music from one label, therefore Motown needed to provide its artists with different labels as not to saturate the market.

It appeared also that each of the subsidiary labels had their own key producers/writers. Yes, I know all of the writers/producers worked for all of the labels, however, some tend to be identified more with one particular label than another. [[HDH-Motown, Whitfield-Gordy, Robinson-Tamla, etc.)

Does anyone have any information you may have learned through the years?