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Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group.
Company History
Beginnings
Founded in 1980 by music industry impresario David Geffen who, in the early 1970s, had formed Asylum Records — but later stepped down after being diagnosed with cancer. Upon his health's recovery, Geffen came out of retirement and struck a deal with Warner Brothers Records to create Geffen Records. Warner provided 100 percent of the funding for the label's operations, while Geffen retained 50 percent of the profits, and distributed its records.Geffen Records' first signee was disco superstar Donna Summer, whose gold selling album The Wanderer became the label's first release in 1980. The label followed it up with Double Fantasy by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It was Lennon's first album of all new material in several years. Two days after it entered the charts, Lennon was assassinated in New York City. Subsequently, the album went on to sell millions and gave the label its first number one album and single.
As the 1980s progressed, Geffen Records continued to sign a handful of already established music icons, including: Elton John, Cher, Don Henley, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and Peter Gabriel. Toward the end of the decade, the company also began making a name for itself as an emerging rock label — thanks to the success of Whitesnake, Guns N' Roses and the mainstream comeback of 70s era rockers Aerosmith. This prompted Geffen to create DGC Records to operate as a subsidiary label — focused on more progressive sounds, which would later embrace the emergence of alternative rock, with influential acts like Nirvana, The Nymphs and Sonic Youth .
Geffen's acquisition by MCA
After a decade of operating through Warner, when its contract with the company expired, David sold the label to MCA Inc. (later renamed Universal Music Group) in 1990. The deal ultimately earned him an estimated $1 billion in cash and stock, and an employment contract that ran until 1995. Following the sale, Geffen Records operated as one of UMG's leading, independently managed, labels. David stepped down as head of the label in 1995 and partnered with Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg to form Dreamworks SKG, an ambitious multimedia empire dealing in film, television, books, and music. Geffen Records, meanwhile, would distribute its DreamWorks Records subsidiary.Interscope-Geffen-A&M
UMG acquired PolyGram in 1998 and a big corporate shake up of labels happened as a result. Geffen Records, along with A&M Records, was subsequently merged into Interscope Records. Though Geffen continued to exist as its own imprint, it was now reduced in size and stature to fit into the greater expansion of Interscope. Geffen's DGC division, meanwhile, ceased operations and was absorbed into Interscope and Geffen.By 2000, in spite of Geffen Records no longer being independently operated within the UMG sect and taking a more submissive position behind Interscope, it continued to do steady business — so much so that in 2003, UMG folded MCA Records into Geffen. Though Geffen had always been more of a pop/rock label, the take over of MCA now meant that Geffen would have a more diverse roster, with former MCA artists like Mary J. Blige, Avant, and Common now on the label. Meanwhile, Dreamworks Records also folded, with much of the company being absorbed by Geffen as well.
Geffen's absorption of the MCA and Dreamworks labels, along with its continuing to sign new multi-platinum acts like Ashlee Simpson and Snoop Dogg, have boosted the company so much so that today it's on a near equal footing with the main Interscope label, leading some industry setsiders to predict that it may possibly go back to operating as a 'main label' at UMG again very soon.
See also
External links
American record labels | Vivendi subsidiaries | 1980 establishments
Geffen Records | Geffen Records | Geffen Records | Geffen Records | Geffen Records | Geffen Records
"Geffen Records"