Just wondering.

The stage for Don's TV dance show and Motown Studios were almost neighbors in Hollywood, a long healthy walk could get you from one to the other.
Soul train was run on a shoe string budget, apparently the dancers were lucky to get something to drink [[one soft drink) , yet Don Cornelius chose to fly to Philadelphia to secure a new theme for his show [[which G&H provided within the course of a week-end) rather than use his in-town options.

So, maybe Don Cornelius did approach Motown , but for whatever the reasons , maybe Motown was not interested?, nothing came of it.

Even years into the show , when the TSOP version had run its' course and a new theme was sought , and with Motown providing a substantial share of performers for the show , no one at Motown thought , that project really paid big for PIR, maybe we should give it a shot?

Kind of curious.