History
In October 1994, four years after David Geffen sold his former record label Geffen Records to MCA Music Entertainment, he joined Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg to form DreamWorks SKG. [4] SKG stood for Spielberg, Katzenberg & Geffen. [5] The three partners, mainly Geffen along with Mo Ostin, his son Michael, and Lenny Waronker, later launched the subsidiary record label DreamWorks Records in early 1996. [5] The label was presided over by Waronker and Mo Ostin – who ran Warner Bros. Records until the mid-1990s – and Michael Ostin, who served as the president of DreamWorks Records. Mo Ostin stated at the time: "What you find in the record business is there is more and more a trend toward corporate control, corporate values, and here you’re dealing with a creatively oriented operation." [6]
Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright was the first artist to be signed to the new record label, in early 1996. Another early signing, George Michael, joined the label after a legal dispute with Sony Music Entertainment. As part of the settlement with Sony, they allowed future Michael albums to have US/Canadian distribution by the new DreamWorks Records label, with international distribution going to Virgin Records. [7] Wainwright later noted that he and Michael, two of the label's earliest signings, were both homosexual, with label founder Geffen himself being homosexual. [8]
The logo for the label was the last project completed by artist Roy Lichtenstein. The distinctive design, incorporating a musical note in the artist's trademark "dream balloon," debuted on the packaging for Beautiful Freak , the first album from Los Angeles-based band Eels, and the second release from the record company. [9] The record label's first release, George Michael's Older album, had featured DreamWorks' more well-known logo of a boy fishing and sitting on a moon crescent. This moon logo has been used for non-music divisions of DreamWorks, and was later turned into a 25 second long CGI opening logo, when the main division DreamWorks Pictures began releasing films in late 1997. [10]
Henry Rollins (both as a spoken-word artist and with Rollins Band), Alien Ant Farm, comedian/actor Chris Rock, Elliott Smith, Jimmy Eat World, Morphine, Nelly Furtado, Papa Roach, Powerman 5000, Sleepy Brown and Tamar Braxton were among some of the notable acts signed to the label in the 1990s and early 2000s. [11] By the time, the first DreamWorks Pictures film The Peacemaker was released on September 26, 1997, the label had released 12 albums by George Michael, Eels, Jonathan Larson, Powerman 5000, Morphine, Rollins Band, Chris Rock, Kool Keith, Forest for the Trees, Subcircus, Kim Fox and Hans Zimmer, with the Hans Zimmer album being a soundtrack score for The Peacemaker (released two weeks prior to the film). [12] [13] In the lead up to the March 1997 release of Rollins Band's DreamWorks debut Come In and Burn , lead singer Henry Rollins and DreamWorks Records had been involved in a lawsuit with Rollins Band's previous label Imago. [14] [15] At the time, the independent Imago had lost its distribution deal with major label BMG, leading Rollins to seek another label, with Rollins later being approached by DreamWorks to join their new label. [16] Shortly after Rollins signed to DreamWorks, Imago president Terry Ellis filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against both Rollins and DreamWorks, alleging breach of contract. Imago argued Rollins was still obligated to deliver more albums, under an eight-album deal Rollins Band had signed in 1991. [14] Rollins countersued, claiming fraud and deceit on Imago's part. [17] Rollins believed that the contract was no longer valid due to Imago's financial instability and loss of major label backing, saying that the label would soon go out of business. [14] The lawsuit was still ongoing by the time Come In and Burn was released. [16]
Once DreamWorks Pictures launched in September 1997, the label started doing soundtrack compilation tie-ins (usually with several songs from artists signed to their label), such as for the DreamWorks films Almost Famous , American Beauty , Forces of Nature , Road Trip , Shrek , Small Soldiers and The Prince of Egypt . Additionally, between 1998 and 2000, the label released soundtrack compilations for three non-DreamWorks films; Dead Man on Campus , A Night at the Roxbury and The Ladies Man . All three of these films were comedies owned by Paramount Pictures, who later acquired the rights to the live-action DreamWorks film library in February 2006. [18] [19] [20] On September 8, 1998, the label released Songs of the Witchblade: A Soundtrack to the Comic Books, which, unlike typical soundtracks tied to film or television, was created specifically as a musical companion to the indie comic book Witchblade . The idea behind the project was to produce a set of songs that capture the mood, atmosphere, and character dynamics of the comic, functioning as a concept album that follows the tone and themes of Witchblade rather than telling a linear story. Kat Bjelland from Babes in Toyland (a non-DreamWorks act) was influential in putting the album together, and it featured only two songs by artists signed to DreamWorks; Kim Fox and Subcircus. [21] On September 18, 2001, the label also released WWF Tough Enough: Music From the Hit Series , which was for the wrestling reality show of the same name. This compilation featured several songs from hard rock/metal artists signed to DreamWorks – including Alien Ant Farm, Buckcherry, Halfcocked, Papa Roach and Pressure 4-5 (who still had not released their debut Burning the Process yet). [22] The show itself aired on MTV, which like Paramount was part of Viacom, and it had no corporate ties to the non-music divisions of DreamWorks.
In addition to using their songs on soundtrack albums, DreamWorks further promoted their musicians by using their songs within DreamWorks films. Two notable examples include the Oscar winning picture American Beauty, which featured the Eels' song "Cancer for the Cure" and Elliot Smith's song "Because", [23] and DreamWorks' most successful release Shrek, which featured the Eels' song "My Beloved Monster". Eels' music also appeared in the DreamWorks films Road Trip and Shrek 2 , while Smith's music additionally appeared in Almost Famous. Other DreamWorks films with songs from artists signed to their label included Evolution (which used songs from Buckcherry, Powerman 5000 and Self). Small Soldiers used Edwin Starr's 1970 song "War", while the soundtrack album released by DreamWorks Records featured a cover of "War" by Henry Rollins. He did this cover as part of a collaboration with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and other musicians, rather than as part of Rollins Band. [24] In Small Solidiers, there is also a scene in the protagonist's bedroom which shows a poster for Mega!! Kung Fu Radio , the 1997 DreamWorks Records debut of Powerman 5000. [25]
After releasing The Peacemaker score in 1997, the label would occasionally release other background scores for DreamWorks films, including Randy Newman's score for Meet the Parents , Thomas Newman's score for American Beauty and John Williams' scores for Amistad , Catch Me If You Can , Minority Report and Saving Private Ryan . American Beauty was the only film to receive both a soundtrack score album and a soundtrack compilation album with songs from various artists. Certain DreamWorks scores were released by outside labels, starting with Mouse Hunt , which had its score released by Varèse Sarabande on December 2, 1997. [26]
When DreamWorks Records initially formed, David Geffen speculated that it might be able to form synergies with DreamWorks' video game division DreamWorks Interactive. That division itself was expected to gradually form synergies with the film and television divisions, which had not launched yet at that point. [27] Regarding DreamWorks Interactive, Geffen said at the time, "we don't really know what the effect of interactivity will be on music." [27] One of the label's earliest releases, Rollins Band's Come In and Burn, had an enhanced CD version, which included a feature titled "Rollins Band Interactive". [28] By 1998, the DreamWorks Records website was an interactive multimedia platform with dedicated micro-sites for the label's albums. These micro-sites feature interactive album art, incorporating music tracks, lyrics, visual elements, and animations to reflect the recording's style. The interface facilitated browsing through an album "bin" for new releases or a searchable discography. Selecting an album transformed the screen into a display for the artist, with full-screen visuals, promotional content, videos, and music presented in a maximized browser window. Users could select from three audio formats, and music videos were available for on-demand streaming. Albums which had their own micro-sites included Blinker the Star's August Everywhere, Buckcherry's self-titled album, Chris Rock's Bigger & Blacker , Dr. Octagon's Dr. Octagonecologyst , Kim Fox's Moon Hut , Powerman 5000's Tonight The Stars Revolt! , Propellerheads' Decksandrumsandrockandroll , Randy Newman's Bad Love , Rollins Band's Come In and Burn, Rufus Wainwright's self-titled album, Self's Breakfast with Girls , and the soundtrack for Forces of Nature. [29]
Some of the label's biggest hits came in 2000–2001, with Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird", Papa Roach's "Last Resort" and Alien Ant Farm's cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" being released during those years. [30] [6] Geffen Records distributed DreamWorks Records until 1999, when Interscope Records took over distribution duties (meanwhile, as Interscope and Geffen switched international distribution to Polydor Records, DreamWorks Records followed suit).
Sale and closure
It was announced on November 11, 2003, that Universal Music Group (the former MCA Music Entertainment, and parent of Interscope, Geffen, and Polydor) reached an agreement to acquire DreamWorks Records from DreamWorks for "about $100 million". [31] The purchase came at a time when the music business was "going through major changes" as it struggled to "counter falling sales and the impact of unofficial online music sales". Mo Ostin, the principal executive at DreamWorks Records, said: "Despite the challenges of the music business today, Universal is acquiring a wonderful asset and the sale will assure the strongest possible future for our artists". [32] Under the new deal, DreamWorks Records was placed within the Interscope Geffen A&M label, under the direction of Jimmy Iovine. [31] After the finalisation of the label's sale to UMG on January 9, 2005, 100 employees were laid off at DreamWorks, multiple bands were dropped, and several albums were cancelled as it was folded into Geffen Records. [33] Notably, the label's A&R staff were kept on to the label. [33] Polly Anthony joined Jordan Schur as Geffen co-head in 2004. [34]
Its country music division, DreamWorks Nashville, which began in June 1997, remained operational until September 1, 2005. It was shut down by Universal Music Group Nashville following the departure of the label's biggest star, Toby Keith. [35]
The sale to Universal Music Group was part of a broader restructuring of DreamWorks' operations, starting in 2000 when their video game division DreamWorks Interactive was sold to Electronic Arts to $10 million. In October 2004, their animation division DreamWorks Animation split into its own separate company, while in February 2006, the live-action film and television divisions were sold to Paramount's parent company Viacom for $1.6 billion. [19] Following the 2006 sale, Paramount/Viacom entered into a six year distribution agreement with DreamWorks Animation, although no similar deals were made with DreamWorks Records' new owner Universal Music Group, as they had already shut down the label by that point. [19] Like DreamWorks Animation, Universal Music Group were involved in a recent split from a larger corporation they were part of, as in May 2004, they split from namesake company Universal Studios. In 2016, DreamWorks Animation ended up being purchased by Universal Studios' parent company Comcast for $3.8 billion. However, Universal Music Group has still remained a separate corporate entity to Universal Studios since 2004. [36]
Following the 2003 announcement of UMG's takeover of DreamWorks Records, the label only released two further soundtrack albums for DreamWorks films; the soundtracks for the 2004 animated films Shrek 2 and Shark Tale (both of which were released before DreamWorks Animation split from the live-action divisions in October of that year). All other DreamWorks films released between November 2003 and September 2005 had their soundtracks released by other labels, including EuroTrip , Just like Heaven and Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! , among others. Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! had music from recently signed DreamWorks artist Jessy Moss (originally from Australia), in addition to featuring her in an acting role. This was done to cross-promote Moss, with the film originally being shot between May and July 2003. The film ended up being released at the beginning of 2004, once UMG's takeover had already been announced. [37]
