Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered.
Universal Music Group N.V. is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its operational headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California. The biggest music company in the world, it is one of the "Big Three" record labels, along with Sony Music Group and Warner Music Group. Tencent acquired ten percent of Universal Music Group in March 2020 for €3 billion and acquired an additional ten percent stake in January 2021. Pershing Square Holdings later acquired ten percent of UMG prior to its IPO on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. The company went public on September 21, 2021, at a valuation of €46 billion.
Benjamin Franklin Peay, known professionally as Brook Benton, was an American singer and songwriter whose music transcended rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music genres in the 1950s and 1960s, with hits such as "It's Just a Matter of Time" and "Endlessly".
Gallagher and Lyle were a Scottish musical duo, comprising singer-songwriters Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle. Their style consisted mainly of pop, soft and folk rock oriented songs.
Grapefruit were a London-based British band of the late 1960s, brought together by Terry Doran of Apple Publishing, a music publishing company started and owned by the Beatles. Their brand of music was a typical late 1960s blend of rock, which they often fused with psychedelic effects such as phasers and vocoders, or classical arrangements.
Tommy Sims is an American bassist, songwriter, record producer and bandleader.
Danny Michel is a Canadian artist, songwriter and producer.
Holly Brook Hafermann, known professionally as Skylar Grey, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. In 2004, Grey signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group and a recording contract with Linkin Park's Machine Shop Recordings under the name Holly Brook. Her debut studio album, Like Blood Like Honey (2006), served as her only release with the label.
Allen Reynolds is an American record producer and songwriter who specializes in country music. He has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.
Karyn Rochelle is an American country music songwriter and vocalist. As a songwriter, she has written or co-written songs which became hits for Trisha Yearwood, LeAnn Rimes, Ronnie Milsap, Sunny Sweeney, and, moving outside of her primary genre into R&B, Kenny G.
Joe Brooks is an English singer and songwriter. Brooks started out as a Myspace musician when he was just 17 and quickly gained popularity on the site while releasing two independent EPs. By 2008 he was hyped and labelled as the "Number 1 Unsigned UK Artist" on MySpace and had amassed 11 million song plays. In 2009 he signed to Jason Flom's Lava Records and Universal Republic Records, where he released his first full-length and major label album, Constellation Me, in 2010. Following his exit from Lava/Universal in 2011, he released a fan-funded independent EP, A Reason to Swim, later that year.
James Timothy DuBois is an American accountant, songwriter, and recording industry executive based in Nashville. He has headed both Arista Records and Universal South Records, and as a songwriter, he has written five No. 1 country hits, including "Love in the First Degree" which was a world-wide hit recorded by the group Alabama.
Joshua Keith Ostrander, also known as Mondo Cozmo, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is now based in Los Angeles, California. His solo music has been described as "chorus-heavy folk-rock."
Sir Lucian Charles Grainge is a British record executive who has served as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Universal Music Group since 2010. Beginning as an A&R staffer in the late 1970s, Grainge has worked in the music industry his entire career. Billboard magazine named him the most powerful person in the music business on four occasions in the 2010s, and was named the inaugural Executive of the Decade in 2020.
Don Kirby Cook is an American record producer and songwriter whose work is mainly in the field of country music. Artists who recorded Cook's material include Barbara Mandrell, John Conlee, Mark Collie, Wade Hayes and Brooks & Dunn. Cook's production work began in the early 1990s when he worked with Brooks & Dunn.
Chris Anokute is an American Music Executive, specialized in Artist Development and Executive Music Production. He was born from Nigerian parents, grew up in New Jersey, and currently resides in Los Angeles, California. His first stint in artist development was when he was hired at Virgin/Capitol Records in 2006 as their Senior Director of A&R at the age of 23 years old. While at Virgin/Capitol Records, Chris oversaw the A&R/Development for Katy Perry and Joss Stone. He later held senior vice-president of A&R roles at Universal Music Group and Epic Records between the years of 2011 and 2018.
Magnus Lidehäll is a Swedish award-winning producer, composer, and songwriter. He works closely with the songwriting duo Vargas & Lagola – with whom he won the composer of the year award at the Swedish Grammy Awards in 2014. Together they have produced, written, and/or co-written songs for Madonna, Wyclef Jean & Avicii, Veronica Maggio and Petter, to name a few.
Luke Robert Laird is an American country music songwriter and producer. He has written over 20 number one Billboard singles, including Carrie Underwood's "So Small", "Temporary Home", and "Undo It"; Blake Shelton's "Gonna"; Sara Evans' "A Little Bit Stronger"; Rodney Atkins's "Take a Back Road"; Eric Church's "Drink in My Hand", "Give Me Back My Hometown", and "Talladega"; Little Big Town's "Pontoon"; Luke Bryan's "I See You" and "Fast"; Thomas Rhett's "T-Shirt"; Kenny Chesney's "American Kids"; Lady Antebellum's "Downtown"; and Jon Pardi's "Head Over Boots." He has also written and produced songs for Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Kacey Musgraves, Toby Keith, Ne-Yo, John Legend, Darius Rucker, and many others.
Kidinakorner is an American record company founded in 2011 by British music producer and songwriter Alexander "Alex da Kid" Grant. The company houses a record label, music publishing, commercial production and a marketing agency. The company is home to some prominent acts in the music industry, including Imagine Dragons and X Ambassadors.
ABC Music is Australia's largest independent record label. It operates under the ABC Commercial division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It covers a wide range of music genres, including classical, children’s and adult contemporary music, blues, roots, rock, and Australian country music. Its imprints include ABC Classics and FOUR FOUR.
