Jive Records
is a record label, based in New York City, owned by Sony Music Entertainment, and operates under the Zomba Label Group.
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Company history
Jive Records was formed by
Clive Calder in 1975 in London, on Willesden Street, which became the label's publishing company—and was launched in the United States as a branch of the Zomba Recording Corporation in 1981. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of
South African music and dance. The labels early roster included
Whodini,
Tight Fit,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Billy Ocean and
Samantha Fox.
Upon its launch, US distribution would be handled by
Arista Records until 1987. Following the creation of
BMG the same year, distribution of Jive switched to
RCA Records. Free from the authority of Arista head
Clive Davis (who at the time was known to be opposed to
hip-hop music), as the 1980s drew to a close, Jive went on to sign a plethora of hip-hop acts, including:
Too Short and
Schoolly D. By the early-mid 1990s, Jive had become a premiere label in the genre of hip-hop, thanks to the success of acts like Whodini,
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince,
E-40,
A Tribe Called Quest,
KRS-One, and R&B acts such as
Aaliyah and
R. Kelly.
By the mid-late 1990s, despite its reputation for dealing heavily in hip-hop, Jive signed pop acts
Backstreet Boys,
'N Sync, and
Britney Spears—all of whom achieved massive success as the 2000s dawned, and would become the three best-selling acts in the label's history.
[1]
Jive's distribution deal with RCA expired in 1991, at which time BMG purchased a large minority stake in the label. Also in 1991,
Barry Weiss became CEO and president of Jive Records. Jive operated as an independently managed label, with distribution of its releases handled by BMG directly, until 2002—when Bertelsmann Music Group acquired the remainder of Zomba for US$3 billion, which was at the time the largest-ever acquisition of an independent label with major-label distribution. The company was reconfigured and renamed
Zomba Label Group, under which Jive continues to operate.
Artists
- List of current Jive Records artists
- List of former Jive Records artists
References
- [1][1]