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Interscope Geffen A&M Records
Interscope Geffen A&M Records (IGA) is an American umbrella label operating as a unit of Interscope Capitol Labels Group, owned by Universal Music Group. It currently consists of record labels Interscope Records (with its subsidiary, A&M Records) and Geffen Records. It is one of the two umbrella labels that is a part of the Interscope Capitol Label Group, the other being Capitol Music Group.
On December 10, 1998, Canadian distillery and conglomerate Seagram completed its seven-month $10.6 billion plan to acquire PolyGram. Shortly after, Seagram merged PolyGram with Universal Pictures; its music division was merged with recording labels under the music faction of MCA Inc. The expensive merger created what is today, the biggest major music company, Universal Music Group. On time for New Year's Day 1999, Universal Music combined the operations of MCA sister labels Interscope Records and Geffen Records with PolyGram subsidiary A&M Records. The combined labels were altogether consolidated into an umbrella unit known publicly as Interscope Geffen A&M Records. The label unit operated as one of the newly formed Universal Music Group's four umbrella companies; the other three being the Universal Motown Republic Group, Verve Records and The Island Def Jam Music Group. The reorganization, expected to produce $300 million in savings annually, was described by the Los Angeles Times as underscoring the "changing economics and direction of the music business." Interscope co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field were named co-chairmen of IGA at its launch.
As a result of the merger, on January 22, three weeks after the PolyGram-UMG merger, both A&M Records and Geffen division DGC Records went dormant with a certainty of artists drafted to either Geffen or Interscope, while a significant percentage of artists and/or bands were dropped from A&M and Geffen. With Geffen now existing as the only active label under the IGA shade, over 280 jobs were eliminated (including 110 from Geffen) and A&M's former Charlie Chaplin studio/Jim Henson company lot offices were closed. Enraged, A&M co-founders Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss filed suit against Universal and parent company Seagram in June for breach of contract, citing a breach of the company's integrity clause following the merger of A&M into IGA and later dormancy. The lawsuit sought over $20 million in damages. The case was settled out of court in March 2003, in exchange for UMG considering A&M as an active one-off label of Interscope Records while its operations in the United Kingdom would be handled by Polydor Records, with sister label Island Records' UK division taking over Geffen's duties. Alpert and Moss received $200 million from Vivendi, a French mass media conglomerate which Seagram merged with in 2000 in exchange for acquiring Universal Pictures and its music division.
As independent labels, A&M and Geffen were revered, having had achieved substantial commercial and artistic success. Both had been sold by their founders, however, and suffered from budget restraints and unproductive band signings over the previous years. At the time of the merger, neither labels had hit singles upon the top forties of Billboard charts while Interscope, in turn, had "defined the new sound of young America" with hit records from artists including Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, Nine Inch Nails, No Doubt, Limp Bizkit, and Bush, among others.[citation needed] In 2000, thanks to growing integrity of IGA, Universal Music Group became the first music corporation to break the $1 billion mark in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. The company held the top position in music sales with 28.03% market share, with Interscope being the top-selling Universal label, outperforming sister label Def Jam Recordings, with an 8.97% market share. By 2001, Interscope Geffen A&M began to recover commercially, despite the February departure of Ted Field. Over eighteen top forty Billboard hits occurred between the spring and summer of the year. Two of which, Eve's "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" became a top three Billboard Hot 100 hit, helping to garner her the first ever Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration a year later; No Doubt's "Hey Baby" cracked the top five of the chart by October and earned the band their Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 2003. Eve is also known to be one of the five female hip hop rappers to have a number one album on the Billboard 200 with 1999's Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady, also making her Interscope Geffen A&M's first, and thus far, only female rapper to have a number one Billboard 200 album in the label's catalogue, following the unit's inauguration that year. Meanwhile, No Doubt were recovering from the mediocre performance of their 2000 predecessor, Return of Saturn, with their fourth follow-up, Rock Steady, released on December 11, 2001, performing better, peaking within the top ten of the Billboard 200.
IGA's biggest success story would be immortalized when in 2002, rapper 50 Cent, who had been blacklisted and shot nine times in 2000, would sign to Interscope subsidiaries Shady Records and Aftermath Entertainment, respectively founded by labelmates Eminem and Dr. Dre. On February 9, 2003, he released his debut studio album, Get Rich or Die Tryin', having sold over thirteen million copies internationally with nine million being sold in the U.S. The success of the album garnered 50 Cent his own label, G-Unit Records, in a distribution deal with Interscope Geffen A&M Records, rather than a division deal.[citation needed]
Throughout 2003, many sister labels were either acquired by UMG and later merged or folded into IGA. The first was MCA Records, which had been occupant since its 1934 foundation under the Decca Records banner. MCA's final album release was rapper Common's fifth studio album, Electric Circus, which was released in December 2002; the album's lukewarm commercial performance was the main factor and reason of MCA's demise and later absorption into Geffen Records, with not only Common being drafted to the label, but various artists at the time including Blink-182, Mary J. Blige, The Roots and Shaggy altogether being transferred into the imprint. Following president Jay Boberg's resignation, the merger between MCA and IGA completed in July 2003. Over seventy-five staffers were laid off following MCA's folding into Geffen. A month later, in August, DGC artists Beck and Sonic Youth would fully be drafted to the Geffen roster, following their completed imprint fulfillment, despite DGC having been inactive since 1999 following the IGA merger by Universal Music. Coincidentally, Universal Music acquired DreamWorks Records in October 2003, having permanently merged the label into Geffen. Artists including Papa Roach, Rise Against, Nelly Furtado, Lifehouse, AFI, the All-American Rejects, Jimmy Eat World and Rufus Wainwright were moved to the Geffen and/or Interscope imprints. Fatal results involving divisions or subsidiaries under DGC, MCA and DreamWorks resulted in transfers to mostly Geffen other than Interscope including Rawkus Records, Flawless Records and various others. Because of the DreamWorks Records merger into Geffen, DreamWorks Records Nashville was made into a spun-off subsidiary of Universal Music Group Nashville, as was MCA Nashville; DreamWorks Nashville was dissolved in 2005.
In 2004, Star Trak Entertainment, a label run by production duo The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo), ended their partnership with Arista Records, shortly after the firing of its president, music executive L.A. Reid, which preceded the label's merger with RCA Records in reference to UMG's rival music company; RCA and Arista's parent Bertelsmann Music Group's merger with Sony Music that year. Because of this, Star Trak were searching for a new distribution deal until Iovine convinced Williams and Hugo to sign with Interscope, thus putting Star Trak under the IGA banner.[citation needed] The final result was Fam-Lay, Snoop Dogg and Slim Thug being a part of the Interscope or Geffen rosters through the Star Trak imprint. It quickly scored a number one hit through the Geffen banner by Snoop Dogg, "Drop It Like It's Hot".
Throughout 2005, the unit began to achieve alternative success from its A&M division with artists Black Eyed Peas, The Pussycat Dolls and Keyshia Cole.[citation needed] The former's album, Monkey Business, managed to sell three million copies, thanks in part to the success of "Pump It". Meanwhile, the latter's single, "(I Just Want It) To Be Over", managed to make the end of the top thirty of the Billboard R&B song chart. PCD's single, "Don't Cha", which was a leftover recorded by Tori Alamaze, also became a top three hit under IGA. However, the early stages of 2005 proved to be difficult for Interscope Geffen A&M as a violent feud between its breakout rappers 50 Cent and The Game reached a heavy peak following a radio station shooting. At the time, Game already released his debut album under G-Unit, Aftermath and Interscope, The Documentary, on January 18 with 50 Cent on schedule to release The Massacre that March. Although a truce between the two was settled, Game continuously went against IGA chairman Iovine's wishes, deciding to attack 50 and the entirety of G-Unit, using the catchphrase, "G-Unot". The feud between 50 Cent and the Game caused the latter to cut ties with G-Unit and Dr. Dre's Aftermath imprint, while later being transferred from Interscope to Geffen to remain under the Interscope Geffen A&M umbrella, being able to help Game avoid contractual obligations with G-Unit.
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Interscope Geffen A&M Records
Interscope Geffen A&M Records (IGA) is an American umbrella label operating as a unit of Interscope Capitol Labels Group, owned by Universal Music Group. It currently consists of record labels Interscope Records (with its subsidiary, A&M Records) and Geffen Records. It is one of the two umbrella labels that is a part of the Interscope Capitol Label Group, the other being Capitol Music Group.
On December 10, 1998, Canadian distillery and conglomerate Seagram completed its seven-month $10.6 billion plan to acquire PolyGram. Shortly after, Seagram merged PolyGram with Universal Pictures; its music division was merged with recording labels under the music faction of MCA Inc. The expensive merger created what is today, the biggest major music company, Universal Music Group. On time for New Year's Day 1999, Universal Music combined the operations of MCA sister labels Interscope Records and Geffen Records with PolyGram subsidiary A&M Records. The combined labels were altogether consolidated into an umbrella unit known publicly as Interscope Geffen A&M Records. The label unit operated as one of the newly formed Universal Music Group's four umbrella companies; the other three being the Universal Motown Republic Group, Verve Records and The Island Def Jam Music Group. The reorganization, expected to produce $300 million in savings annually, was described by the Los Angeles Times as underscoring the "changing economics and direction of the music business." Interscope co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field were named co-chairmen of IGA at its launch.
As a result of the merger, on January 22, three weeks after the PolyGram-UMG merger, both A&M Records and Geffen division DGC Records went dormant with a certainty of artists drafted to either Geffen or Interscope, while a significant percentage of artists and/or bands were dropped from A&M and Geffen. With Geffen now existing as the only active label under the IGA shade, over 280 jobs were eliminated (including 110 from Geffen) and A&M's former Charlie Chaplin studio/Jim Henson company lot offices were closed. Enraged, A&M co-founders Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss filed suit against Universal and parent company Seagram in June for breach of contract, citing a breach of the company's integrity clause following the merger of A&M into IGA and later dormancy. The lawsuit sought over $20 million in damages. The case was settled out of court in March 2003, in exchange for UMG considering A&M as an active one-off label of Interscope Records while its operations in the United Kingdom would be handled by Polydor Records, with sister label Island Records' UK division taking over Geffen's duties. Alpert and Moss received $200 million from Vivendi, a French mass media conglomerate which Seagram merged with in 2000 in exchange for acquiring Universal Pictures and its music division.
As independent labels, A&M and Geffen were revered, having had achieved substantial commercial and artistic success. Both had been sold by their founders, however, and suffered from budget restraints and unproductive band signings over the previous years. At the time of the merger, neither labels had hit singles upon the top forties of Billboard charts while Interscope, in turn, had "defined the new sound of young America" with hit records from artists including Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, Nine Inch Nails, No Doubt, Limp Bizkit, and Bush, among others.[citation needed] In 2000, thanks to growing integrity of IGA, Universal Music Group became the first music corporation to break the $1 billion mark in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. The company held the top position in music sales with 28.03% market share, with Interscope being the top-selling Universal label, outperforming sister label Def Jam Recordings, with an 8.97% market share. By 2001, Interscope Geffen A&M began to recover commercially, despite the February departure of Ted Field. Over eighteen top forty Billboard hits occurred between the spring and summer of the year. Two of which, Eve's "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" became a top three Billboard Hot 100 hit, helping to garner her the first ever Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration a year later; No Doubt's "Hey Baby" cracked the top five of the chart by October and earned the band their Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 2003. Eve is also known to be one of the five female hip hop rappers to have a number one album on the Billboard 200 with 1999's Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady, also making her Interscope Geffen A&M's first, and thus far, only female rapper to have a number one Billboard 200 album in the label's catalogue, following the unit's inauguration that year. Meanwhile, No Doubt were recovering from the mediocre performance of their 2000 predecessor, Return of Saturn, with their fourth follow-up, Rock Steady, released on December 11, 2001, performing better, peaking within the top ten of the Billboard 200.
IGA's biggest success story would be immortalized when in 2002, rapper 50 Cent, who had been blacklisted and shot nine times in 2000, would sign to Interscope subsidiaries Shady Records and Aftermath Entertainment, respectively founded by labelmates Eminem and Dr. Dre. On February 9, 2003, he released his debut studio album, Get Rich or Die Tryin', having sold over thirteen million copies internationally with nine million being sold in the U.S. The success of the album garnered 50 Cent his own label, G-Unit Records, in a distribution deal with Interscope Geffen A&M Records, rather than a division deal.[citation needed]
Throughout 2003, many sister labels were either acquired by UMG and later merged or folded into IGA. The first was MCA Records, which had been occupant since its 1934 foundation under the Decca Records banner. MCA's final album release was rapper Common's fifth studio album, Electric Circus, which was released in December 2002; the album's lukewarm commercial performance was the main factor and reason of MCA's demise and later absorption into Geffen Records, with not only Common being drafted to the label, but various artists at the time including Blink-182, Mary J. Blige, The Roots and Shaggy altogether being transferred into the imprint. Following president Jay Boberg's resignation, the merger between MCA and IGA completed in July 2003. Over seventy-five staffers were laid off following MCA's folding into Geffen. A month later, in August, DGC artists Beck and Sonic Youth would fully be drafted to the Geffen roster, following their completed imprint fulfillment, despite DGC having been inactive since 1999 following the IGA merger by Universal Music. Coincidentally, Universal Music acquired DreamWorks Records in October 2003, having permanently merged the label into Geffen. Artists including Papa Roach, Rise Against, Nelly Furtado, Lifehouse, AFI, the All-American Rejects, Jimmy Eat World and Rufus Wainwright were moved to the Geffen and/or Interscope imprints. Fatal results involving divisions or subsidiaries under DGC, MCA and DreamWorks resulted in transfers to mostly Geffen other than Interscope including Rawkus Records, Flawless Records and various others. Because of the DreamWorks Records merger into Geffen, DreamWorks Records Nashville was made into a spun-off subsidiary of Universal Music Group Nashville, as was MCA Nashville; DreamWorks Nashville was dissolved in 2005.
In 2004, Star Trak Entertainment, a label run by production duo The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo), ended their partnership with Arista Records, shortly after the firing of its president, music executive L.A. Reid, which preceded the label's merger with RCA Records in reference to UMG's rival music company; RCA and Arista's parent Bertelsmann Music Group's merger with Sony Music that year. Because of this, Star Trak were searching for a new distribution deal until Iovine convinced Williams and Hugo to sign with Interscope, thus putting Star Trak under the IGA banner.[citation needed] The final result was Fam-Lay, Snoop Dogg and Slim Thug being a part of the Interscope or Geffen rosters through the Star Trak imprint. It quickly scored a number one hit through the Geffen banner by Snoop Dogg, "Drop It Like It's Hot".
Throughout 2005, the unit began to achieve alternative success from its A&M division with artists Black Eyed Peas, The Pussycat Dolls and Keyshia Cole.[citation needed] The former's album, Monkey Business, managed to sell three million copies, thanks in part to the success of "Pump It". Meanwhile, the latter's single, "(I Just Want It) To Be Over", managed to make the end of the top thirty of the Billboard R&B song chart. PCD's single, "Don't Cha", which was a leftover recorded by Tori Alamaze, also became a top three hit under IGA. However, the early stages of 2005 proved to be difficult for Interscope Geffen A&M as a violent feud between its breakout rappers 50 Cent and The Game reached a heavy peak following a radio station shooting. At the time, Game already released his debut album under G-Unit, Aftermath and Interscope, The Documentary, on January 18 with 50 Cent on schedule to release The Massacre that March. Although a truce between the two was settled, Game continuously went against IGA chairman Iovine's wishes, deciding to attack 50 and the entirety of G-Unit, using the catchphrase, "G-Unot". The feud between 50 Cent and the Game caused the latter to cut ties with G-Unit and Dr. Dre's Aftermath imprint, while later being transferred from Interscope to Geffen to remain under the Interscope Geffen A&M umbrella, being able to help Game avoid contractual obligations with G-Unit.