Editing Motown (section)

==History==
===Beginnings of Motown===
[[Berry Gordy]]'s interest in the record business began when he opened a record store called the 3D Record Mart, a shop where he hoped to "educate customers about the beauty of jazz", in [[Detroit, Michigan]]. Although the shop did not last very long, Gordy's interest in the music business did not fade. He frequented Detroit's downtown nightclubs, and in the Flame Show Bar he met bar manager Al Green (not the [[Al Green|soul singer of the same name]]), who owned a music publishing company called Pearl Music and represented Detroit-based musician [[Jackie Wilson]]. Gordy soon became part of a group of songwriters—with his sister [[Gwen Gordy Fuqua|Gwen Gordy]] and [[Billy Davis (songwriter)|Billy Davis]]—who wrote songs for Wilson. In November 1957, "[[Reet Petite]]" was released and became their first major hit.<ref>Flory, p. 24.</ref> During the next eighteen months, Gordy helped to write six more Wilson A-sides, including "[[Lonely Teardrops]]", a peak-popular hit of 1958. Between 1957 and 1958, Gordy wrote or produced over a hundred sides for various artists, with his siblings Anna, Gwen and Robert, and other collaborators in varying combinations.<ref>Flory, p. 25.</ref>

[[File:Hitsville USA.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The [[Hitsville U.S.A.]] Motown building, at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Motown's headquarters from 1959 to 1968, which became the Motown Historical Museum in 1985<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.motownmuseum.com |title=Motown Museum |publisher=Motown Museum |date=August 24, 2011 |access-date=December 12, 2011 |archive-date=October 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018222835/http://www.motownmuseum.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

In 1957, Gordy met [[Smokey Robinson]], a local seventeen-year-old singer fronting a vocal harmony group called the Matadors. Gordy was interested in the [[doo-wop]] style that Robinson sang. In 1958, Gordy recorded the group's song "Got a Job" (an answer song to "[[Get a Job (song)|Get a Job]]" by [[the Silhouettes]]), and released it as a single by leasing the record to a larger company outside Detroit called [[End Records]], based in New York. The practice was common at the time for a small-time producer. "Got a Job" was the first single by Robinson's group, now called [[the Miracles]]. Gordy recorded a number of other records by forging a similar arrangement, most significantly with [[United Artists Records|United Artists]].<ref name="Flory 26">Flory, p. 26.</ref>

In 1958, Gordy wrote and produced "[[Come to Me (Marv Johnson song)|Come to Me]]" for [[Marv Johnson]]. Seeing that the song had great crossover potential, Gordy leased it to United Artists for national distribution but also released it locally on his own startup imprint.<ref name="Flory 26" /> Needing $800 to cover his end of the deal, Gordy asked his family to borrow money from a cooperative family savings account.<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|page=879/80}}</ref> After some debate, his family agreed, and in January 1959 "Come to Me" was released regionally on Gordy's new Tamla label.<ref name="Flory 27">Flory, p. 27.</ref> Gordy originally wanted to name the label Tammy Records, after the hit [[Tammy (song)|song]] popularized by [[Debbie Reynolds]] from the 1957 film ''[[Tammy and the Bachelor]]'', in which Reynolds also starred. When he found the name was already in use, Berry decided on Tamla instead.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} In April 1959, Gordy and his sister Gwen founded Anna Records which released about two dozen singles between 1959 and 1960. The most popular was Barrett Strong's "[[Money (That's What I Want)]]", written by Gordy and a secretary named [[Janie Bradford]], and produced by Gordy.<ref name="Flory 27" /> Many of the songs distributed locally by Anna and Tamla Records were nationally distributed by [[Chess Records]] (sometimes with Anna and Tamla imprints). Gordy's relationship with Chess fostered closer dealings with [[Harvey Fuqua]], nephew of Charlie Fuqua of [[the Ink Spots]]. Harvey Fuqua later married Gwen Gordy in 1961.<ref>Flory, p. 28.</ref>

Gordy looked toward creative self-sufficiency and established the publishing firm Jobete in June 1959 (incorporated in Michigan). He applied for copyrights on more than seventy songs before the end of 1959, including material used for the Miracles and Frances Burnett records, which were leased to Chess and [[Coral Records]]. The ''[[Michigan Chronicle]]'' of Detroit called Gordy an "independent producer of records", as his contributions to the city were beginning to attract notice. By that time, he was the president of Jobete, Tamla, and the music writing company Rayber.<ref name="Flory 29">Flory, p. 29.</ref>

Gordy worked in various Detroit-based studios during this period to produce recordings and demos, but most prominently with [[United Sound Systems]] which was considered the best studio in town. However, producing at United Sound Systems was financially taxing and not appropriate for every job, so Gordy decided it would be more cost effective to maintain his own facility.<ref name="Flory 29" /> In mid-1959, he purchased a photography studio at 2648 West Grand Boulevard and converted the main floor into a recording studio and office space. Now, rather than shopping his songs to other artists or leasing his recordings to outside companies, Gordy began using the Tamla and Motown imprints to release songs that he wrote and produced. He incorporated Motown Records in April 1960.<ref>Flory, p. 31.</ref>

Smokey Robinson became the vice president of the company (and later named his daughter "Tamla" and his son "Berry"). Several of [[Gordy family|Gordy's family members]], including his father Berry Sr., brothers Robert and George, and sister Esther, were given key roles in the company. By the middle of the decade, Gwen and Anna Gordy had joined the label in administrative positions as well. Gordy's partner at the time (and wife from 1960 to 1964), [[Ray Singleton|Raynoma Liles]], also played a key role in the early days of Motown, leading the company's first session group, The Rayber Voices, and overseeing Jobete.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

===West Grand Boulevard===
The studio that Gordy purchased in 1959 would become Motown's [[Hitsville U.S.A.]] studio. The photography studio located in the back of the property was modified into a small recording studio, and the Gordys moved into the second-floor living quarters. Within seven years, Motown would occupy seven additional neighboring houses:

*Hitsville U.S.A., 1959 – (ground floor) administrative office, tape library, control room, Studio A; (upper floor) Gordy living quarters (1959–62), artists and repertoire (1962–72)
*Jobete Publishing office, 1961 – sales, billing, collections, shipping, and public relations
*Berry Gordy Jr. Enterprise, 1962 – offices for Berry Gordy Jr. and [[Esther Gordy Edwards]]
*Finance department, 1965 – royalties and payroll
*Artist personal development, 1966 – [[Harvey Fuqua]] (head of artist development and producer of stage performances), [[Maxine Powell]] (instructor in grooming, poise, and social graces for Motown artists), Maurice King (vocal coach, musical director and arranger), [[Cholly Atkins]] (house choreography), and rehearsal studios
*Two houses for administrative offices, 1966 – sales and marketing, traveling and traffic, and mixing and mastering
*ITMI (International Talent Management Inc.) office, 1966 – management

Motown had hired over 450 employees and had a gross income of $20 million by the end of 1966.

===Detroit: 1959–1972===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Motown record label.png|left|200px|thumb|The 1962 Motown label]] -->
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Tamla record label.png|right|200px|thumb|The 1966 Tamla label]] -->Early Tamla/Motown artists included [[Mable John]], [[Eddie Holland]] and [[Mary Wells]]. "[[Shop Around]]", the Miracles' first number 1 R&B hit, peaked at number two on the [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] in 1960. It was Tamla's first million-selling record. On April 14, 1960, Motown and Tamla Records merged into a new company called Motown Record Corporation. A year later, [[the Marvelettes]] scored Tamla's first US number-one hit, "[[Please Mr. Postman]]".<ref name="Larkin"/> By the mid-1960s, the company, with the help of songwriters and producers such as Robinson, [[A&R]] chief [[William "Mickey" Stevenson]], [[Brian Holland]], [[Lamont Dozier]], and [[Norman Whitfield]], had become a major force in the music industry.

From 1961 to 1971, Motown had 110 [[Record chart|top 10]] hits. Top artists on the Motown label during that period included [[the Supremes]] (initially including [[Diana Ross]]), [[Four Tops|the Four Tops]], and [[the Jackson 5]], while [[Stevie Wonder]], [[Marvin Gaye]], [[the Marvelettes]], and [[the Miracles]] had hits on the Tamla label. The company operated several labels in addition to the Tamla and Motown imprints. A third label, which '''Gordy''' named after himself (though it was originally called "Miracle") featured [[the Temptations]], [[the Contours]], [[Edwin Starr]], and [[Martha and the Vandellas]]. A fourth, '''V.I.P.''', released recordings by [[the Velvelettes]], [[The Spinners (American group)|the Spinners]], [[The Monitors (American band)|the Monitors]], and [[Chris Clark (singer)|Chris Clark]].

A fifth label, '''Soul''', featured [[Jr. Walker & the All Stars]], [[Jimmy Ruffin]], [[Shorty Long]], [[The Originals (band)|the Originals]], and [[Gladys Knight & the Pips]] (who had found success before joining Motown, as "The Pips" on [[Vee-Jay Records|Vee-Jay]]). Many more Motown-owned labels released recordings in other genres, including '''Workshop Jazz''' (jazz) [[Earl Washington (musician)|Earl Washington]] Reflections and Earl Washington's All Stars, '''Mel-o-dy''' (country, although it was originally an R&B label), and '''Rare Earth''', whose acts, including [[Rare Earth (band)|the eponymous band]], explored blues-oriented and [[progressive rock]] styles.<ref name=Flory>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LEc_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA155 |title=I Hear a Symphony: Motown and Crossover R&B |last=Flory |first=Andrew|date=May 30, 2017|publisher=University of Michigan Press |access-date= 2023-07-28|quote=Many of Rare Earth's groups, including a popular band called Rare Earth, explored heavy blues-oriented and progressive rock styles. |isbn=9780472036868}}</ref> Under the slogan "The Sound of Young America", Motown's acts were enjoying widespread popularity among black and white audiences alike.

Smokey Robinson said of Motown's cultural impact:

<blockquote>Into the 1960s, I was still not of a frame of mind that we were not only making music, we were making history. But I did recognize the impact because acts were going all over the world at that time. I recognized the bridges that we crossed, the racial problems and the barriers that we broke down with music. I recognized that because I lived it. I would come to the South in the early days of Motown and the audiences would be segregated. Then they started to get the Motown music and we would go back and the audiences were integrated and the kids were dancing together and holding hands.<ref>Ron Thibodeaux, "My Smokey Valentine", ''The Times-Picayune'' (New Orleans, La.), February 14, 2009.</ref></blockquote>

[[File:Berry Gordy House Boston Edison Detroit.JPG|thumb|left|Berry Gordy's House, known as ''Motown Mansion'' in [[Detroit]]'s [[Boston-Edison Historic District]]<ref name=MotownMansion/>]]

In 1967, Berry Gordy purchased what is now known as ''Motown Mansion'' in Detroit's [[Boston-Edison Historic District]] as his home, leaving his previous home to his sister Anna and her then-husband Marvin Gaye (where photos for the cover of his album ''[[What's Going On (Marvin Gaye album)|What's Going On]]'' were taken).<ref name=MotownMansion>{{cite web |url=http://motownmansion.com/ |title=The Motown Mansion! |publisher=Motownmansion.com |access-date=December 12, 2011 |archive-date=August 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110822124830/http://motownmansion.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1968, Gordy purchased the Donovan building on the corner of [[List of buildings located along Woodward Avenue, Detroit|Woodward Avenue]] and [[Interstate 75 in Michigan|Interstate 75]], and moved Motown's Detroit offices there (the Donovan building was demolished in January 2006 to provide parking spaces for [[Super Bowl XL]]). In the same year, Gordy purchased [[Golden World Records]], and its recording studio became "Studio B" to Hitsville's "Studio A".

In the United Kingdom, Motown's records were released on various labels: at first [[London Records|'''London''']] (only the Miracles' "Shop Around"/"[[Who's Lovin' You]]" and "Ain't It Baby"), then [[Fontana Records|'''Fontana''']] ("Please Mr. Postman" by the Marvelettes was one of four) and then [[Oriole Records (UK)|'''Oriole American''']] ("[[Fingertips (song)|Fingertips]]" by Little Stevie Wonder was one of many).  In 1963, Motown signed with EMI's [[Stateside Records|'''Stateside''']] label ("[[Where Did Our Love Go]]" by the Supremes and "[[My Guy]]" by Mary Wells were Motown's first British top-20 hits). Eventually, EMI created the '''Tamla Motown''' label ("[[Stop! In the Name of Love]]" by the Supremes was the first Tamla Motown release in March 1965).

The label's distinctive 'M' logo was designed by Bernie Yeszin, who after being hired by Gordy as Motown's art director in 1962, developed its visual style and created many of its "sophisticated" album covers. He left the company in 1968.<ref>{{cite news |last=Perskey |first=Mort |date=January 30, 1966 |title=Success in Eight Easy Lessons: The Supremes One Year Later |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/97672439/ |url-access=subscription |department=Detroit [magazine] |newspaper=[[Detroit Free Press]] |pages=8–11 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=McCollum |first=Brian |date=July 10, 2014 |title=Bernie Yeszin: Detroiter designed the Motown logo |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/105065803/ |url-access=subscription |newspaper=Detroit Free Press |page=9A |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

===Los Angeles: 1972–1998===
After the songwriting trio [[Holland–Dozier–Holland]] left the label in 1967 over royalty-payment disputes, Norman Whitfield became the company's top producer, turning out hits for the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight & the Pips and Rare Earth. In the meantime Berry Gordy established Motown Productions, a television subsidiary which produced TV specials for the Motown artists, including ''[[TCB (TV program)|TCB]]'', with Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations, ''[[Diana!]]'' with Diana Ross, and ''[[Goin' Back to Indiana]]'' with [[the Jackson 5]]. The company loosened its production rules, allowing some of its longtime artists the opportunity to write and produce more of their own material. This resulted in the recordings of successful and critically acclaimed albums such as [[Marvin Gaye]]'s ''[[What's Going On (Marvin Gaye album)|What's Going On]]'' (1971) and ''[[Let's Get it On]]'' (1973), and [[Stevie Wonder]]'s ''[[Music of My Mind]]'' (1972), ''[[Talking Book]]'' (1972), and ''[[Innervisions]]'' (1973).

Motown had established branch offices in both New York City and Los Angeles during the mid-1960s, and by 1969 had begun gradually moving more of its operations to Los Angeles. On June{{nbsp}}14, 1972, the company announced it was moving all of its operations to Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Thurston |first1=Chuck |title=Motown Moving to California |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/detroit-free-press/47272468/ |work=[[Detroit Free Press]] |date=June 15, 1972 |page=A3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> A number of artists moved with the label, among them [[Martha Reeves]], the Four Tops, Gladys Knight & the Pips and many of the [[Funk Brothers]] studio band, while others stayed behind in Detroit or left the company for other reasons. By re-locating, Motown aimed chiefly to branch out into the motion-picture industry, and Motown Productions got its start in film by turning out two hit-vehicles for [[Diana Ross]]: the [[Billie Holiday]] biographical film ''[[Lady Sings the Blues (film)|Lady Sings the Blues]]'' (1972), and ''[[Mahogany (film)|Mahogany]]'' (1975). Other Motown films would include ''[[Scott Joplin (film)|Scott Joplin]]'' (1977), ''[[Thank God It's Friday (film)|Thank God It's Friday]]'' (1978), ''[[The Wiz (film)|The Wiz]]'' (1978) and ''[[The Last Dragon]]'' (1985). [[Ewart Abner]], who had been associated with Motown since the 1960s, became its president in 1973.

John McClain, an [[A&M Records]] executive, opined that Motown leaving its birth city marked a decline in the label's quality. "Something happened when [Motown] left Detroit and came to [Los Angeles]," he said. "They quit being innovators and started following trends. Before, Berry had a much more hands-on approach. And maybe you lose some of your desire after you get to a certain level financially."<ref>{{cite news |last=Grein |first=Paul |date=1988-06-11 |title=The End of an Era: Expected Sale of the Legendary Motown Label Stirs Some Bittersweet Emotions  |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-11-ca-4214-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=2023-01-29}}</ref>

By the 1970s, the Motown "hit factory" had become a target of a backlash from some fans of rock music. Record producer [[Pete Waterman]] recalls of this period: "I was a DJ for years and I worked for Motown – the press at the time, papers like ''[[NME]]'', used to call it Toytown. When I DJ'd on the [[Polytechnic (United Kingdom)|Poly]] circuit, the students wanted me to play [[Spooky Tooth]] and [[Velvet Underground]]. Things don't change. Nowadays, of course, Motown is hip."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s49QgtwybqUC&q=motown+toytown&pg=PT138|title=The Nineties: What the F**ck Was That All About?|first=John|last=Robb|date=October 31, 2010|publisher=Random House|isbn=9781409034421|access-date=March 9, 2019|via=Google Books|archive-date=December 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214225942/https://books.google.com/books?id=s49QgtwybqUC&q=motown+toytown&pg=PT138|url-status=live}}</ref>

Despite losing Holland–Dozier–Holland, Norman Whitfield, and some of its other hitmakers by 1975, Motown still had a number of successful artists during the 1970s and 1980s, including [[Lionel Richie]] and the [[Commodores]], [[Rick James]], [[Teena Marie]], the [[Dazz Band]], [[Jose Feliciano]] and [[DeBarge]]. By the mid-1980s, Motown had started losing money, and Berry Gordy sold his ownership in Motown to [[MCA Records]] (which began a North American distribution deal with the label in 1983) and Boston Ventures in June 1988 for $61 million. In 1989, Gordy sold the Motown Productions TV/film operations to Motown executive [[Suzanne de Passe]], who renamed the company [[de Passe Entertainment]] and continues to run it {{As of|2018|lc=y}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.depassejones.com/company|title=Company – De Passe Jones Entertainment|website=Home – De Passe Jones Entertainment|access-date=March 9, 2019|archive-date=May 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508193537/https://www.depassejones.com/company|url-status=live}}</ref> Gordy continued to retain the Jobete music publishing catalog, selling it separately to [[EMI Music Publishing]] in parts between 1997 and 2004.<ref>{{Cite magazine| title = EMI Completes Acquisition of Jobete Catalog| magazine = Billboard| access-date = 2020-12-30| url = https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/1440901/emi-completes-acquisition-of-jobete-catalog|first=Lars |last=Brandle|date=March 31, 2004 |archive-date = January 28, 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210128085829/https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/1440901/emi-completes-acquisition-of-jobete-catalog| url-status = live}}</ref> It is currently owned by [[Sony Music Publishing]] (Sony/ATV until 2021) through the acquisition of EMI Music Publishing in 2012 (as a leader of the consortium and eventually assigned full ownership in 2018).

During the 1990s, Motown was home to successful recording artists such as [[Boyz II Men]] and [[Johnny Gill]], although the company itself remained in a state of turmoil. MCA appointed a series of executives to run the company, beginning with Berry Gordy's immediate successor, [[Jheryl Busby]]. Busby quarreled with MCA, alleging that the company did not give Motown's product adequate attention or promotion. In 1991, Motown sued MCA to have its distribution deal with the company terminated, and began releasing its product through [[PolyGram]]. PolyGram purchased Motown from Boston Ventures three years later.

In 1994, Busby was replaced by [[Andre Harrell]], the entrepreneur behind [[Uptown Records]]. Harrell served as Motown's CEO for just under two years, leaving the company after receiving bad publicity for being inefficient. Danny Goldberg, who ran PolyGram's Mercury Records group, assumed control of Motown, and [[George Jackson (producer)|George Jackson]] served as president.

===Final years of the Motown label: 1999–2005===
By 1998, Motown had added stars such as [[702 (band)|702]], [[Brian McKnight]], and [[Erykah Badu]] to its roster. In December 1998, [[PolyGram]] was acquired by [[Seagram]], and Motown was absorbed into the [[Universal Music Group]]. Seagram had purchased Motown's former parent MCA in 1995, and Motown was in effect reunited with many of its MCA corporate siblings (Seagram had hoped to build a media empire around Universal, and started by purchasing PolyGram). Universal briefly considered shuttering the label, but instead decided to restructure it. [[Kedar Massenburg]], a producer for Erykah Badu, became the head of the label, and oversaw successful recordings from Badu, McKnight, [[Michael McDonald (singer)|Michael McDonald]], and new Motown artist [[India.Arie]].

Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, and the Temptations had remained with the label since its early days, although all except Wonder recorded for other labels for several years. Ross left Motown for [[RCA Records]] from 1981 to 1988, but returned in 1989 and stayed until 2002, while Robinson left Motown in 1991 (although he did return to release [[Intimate (Smokey Robinson album)|one more album for the label]] in 1999). The Temptations left for [[Atlantic Records]] in 1977, but returned in 1980 and eventually left again in 2004. Wonder finally left the label in 2020.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.sky.com/story/stevie-wonder-leaves-motown-records-after-almost-six-decades-and-releases-two-new-songs-12103627 |title=Stevie Wonder leaves Motown Records after almost six decades and releases two new songs |work=Sky News |last=Choudhry |first=Sabah |date=13 October 2020 |access-date=10 February 2025}}</ref>

===Universal Motown: 2005–2011===
{{Further|Universal Motown Records}}
In 2005, Massenburg was replaced by [[Sylvia Rhone]], former CEO of [[Elektra Records]]. Motown was merged with [[Universal Records (defunct record label)|Universal Records]] to create the [[Universal Motown Records]] and placed under the newly created umbrella division of [[Universal Motown Republic Group]]. Notable artists on Universal Motown included [[Drake Bell]], [[Ryan Leslie]], [[Melanie Fiona]], [[Kelly Rowland]], [[Forever the Sickest Kids]], [[The Veer Union]] and [[Four Year Strong]]. Motown celebrated its 50th anniversary on January 12, 2009, and celebrated it in Detroit on November 20, 2009, in a black-tie Gala titled "Live It Again!" The event was hosted by [[Sinbad (comedian)|Sinbad]] and included [[Stevie Wonder]], [[Smokey Robinson]], [[the Temptations]], [[Aretha Franklin]] and [[Kid Rock]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://michiganchronicle.com/2009/11/18/motown-celebrates-50th-anniversary-in-grand-style/|title=Motown Celebrates 50th Anniversary in Grand Style|date=November 18, 2009|website=michiganchronicle.com|access-date=August 11, 2021|archive-date=August 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811122633/https://michiganchronicle.com/2009/11/18/motown-celebrates-50th-anniversary-in-grand-style/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/motown-celebrates-its-50th-anniversary-with-stevie-wonder-temptations-performance-1819618.html|title=Motown celebrates its 50th anniversary with Stevie Wonder, Temptations performance|date=November 12, 2009|website=The Independent|access-date=August 11, 2021|archive-date=August 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811122627/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/motown-celebrates-its-50th-anniversary-with-stevie-wonder-temptations-performance-1819618.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Relaunch: 2011–present===
In mid-2011, Universal Motown reverted to the Motown brand after having been separated from Universal Motown Republic Group, hired [[Ethiopia Habtemariam]] as its Senior Vice President, and operated under [[The Island Def Jam Music Group]].<ref name="billboard1"/><ref name="universalmusic1"/> Artists from Universal Motown were transferred to the newly revitalized Motown label.<ref name="sisario1"/> On January 25, 2012, it was announced that [[Ne-Yo]] would join the Motown label both as an artist as well as the new Senior Vice President of A&R.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/25/ne-yo-leaves-def-jam-motown-records_n_1231889.html | work=Huffington Post | first=Brennan | last=Williams | title=Ne-Yo Leaves Def Jam For Motown Records | date=January 25, 2012 | access-date=March 2, 2012 | archive-date=February 7, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207075428/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/25/ne-yo-leaves-def-jam-motown-records_n_1231889.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677870/ne-yo-motown-def-jam.jhtml|title=Rob Markham, "Ne-Yo Leaves Def Jam To Become Motown Exec", MTV News, January 25, 2012.|work=MTV News|access-date=October 8, 2014|archive-date=April 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420022245/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677870/ne-yo-motown-def-jam.jhtml|url-status=dead}}</ref> On April 1, 2014, it was announced that Island Def Jam would no longer be running following the resignation of CEO Barry Weiss. A press release sent out by Universal Music Group announced that the label would now be reorganizing Def Jam Recordings, Island Records and Motown Records all as separate entities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2014/04/island-def-jam-will-longer-exist/|title=Island Def Jam Is Over|work=XXL|date=April 2014 |access-date=October 8, 2014|archive-date=April 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140406081128/http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2014/04/island-def-jam-will-longer-exist/|url-status=live}}</ref> Motown would then begin serving as a subsidiary of [[Capitol Records]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frequencynews.com/flippagefreq/flip-freq-may-2014/index.html#p=27|title=Frequency Magazine|date=May 2014|publisher=Frequencynews.com|access-date=October 8, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508193014/http://www.frequencynews.com/flippagefreq/flip-freq-may-2014/index.html#p=27|archive-date=May 8, 2015|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In late 2018, Motown began celebrating its 60th anniversary by reissuing numerous albums from their catalog.

Motown UK launched in September 2020 under Universal UK's [[EMI Records]] (formerly [[Virgin EMI Records]]) division.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Angermiller |first1=Michele |title=Motown Records Launches UK Outpost |url=https://variety.com/2020/music/news/motown-records-uk-launch-1234768723/ |website=Variety |date=September 14, 2020 |publisher=Variety Music, LLC |access-date=2020-09-14 |archive-date=September 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914170251/https://variety.com/2020/music/news/motown-records-uk-launch-1234768723/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Motown Records became part of UMG's Republic Corps in 2024.