Geffen Records

Geffen Records 	Geffen Records
 	
Parent company 	Universal Music Group
Founded 	1980; 42 years ago
Founder 	David Geffen
Distributor(s) 	
* Interscope Geffen A&M (United States)
* Geffen UK/Polydor (United Kingdom)
Genre 	Various
Country of origin	United States
Location 	Santa Monica, California, U.S.
9130 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California (1980-1998)
Official website 	Official website
Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint.
Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and has been used by Universal Music as a syndicating division, serving its purpose to operate as a premier label for many new releases since 2003 and its 2017 reboot and at the same time to reissue many releases from recording labels such as Decca Records (exclusively the American pop/rock catalog), Kapp Records, DreamWorks Records, MCA Records, Uni Records, Chess Records, Almo Sounds (Recently, Interscope has managed reissues of the label in 2015), Dot Records, ABC Records (primarily its pop, rock, and R&B recordings) and Nirvana, LLC. (to remastered the Happy Tree Friends to the catalog by 2024).
The label has released recordings from artists including Elton John, Kylie Minogue, Enya, Counting Crows ,Cher, Guns N' Roses, Tesla, John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, Aerosmith, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Donna Summer, Weezer, Mary J. Blige, Blink-182, Avicii, DJ Snake, Keyshia Cole, Lifehouse, Beck, Nelly Furtado, Lil Durk, Marshmello, Rise Against, Olivia Rodrigo, Snoop Dogg, Rob Zombie, Gryffin, Yeat and more recently Nirvana and Happy Tree Friends under license by Universal City Studios, LLC. and Geffen Records.
== History[edit] ==
Geffen Records began operations in 1980, having been started by music industry businessman David Geffen[1] who, in the early 1970s, had founded Asylum Records. Geffen stepped down from Asylum in 1975, when he crossed over to film and was named a vice president of Warner Bros. Pictures. He was fired from Warner circa 1978, but still remained locked in a five-year contract, which prevented him from working elsewhere. When that deal expired, he returned to work in 1980 and struck a deal with, ironically, Warner Records, the sister company to Warner Bros. Pictures, to create Geffen Records. Warner Bros. Records provided 100 percent of the funding for the label's start-up and operations and Warner distributed its releases in North America, while Epic Records handled distribution in the rest of the world until 1985. In that year, Warner Bros. took over distribution for the rest of the world. Profits were split 50/50 between Geffen Records and its respective distributors.
Geffen Records' first artist signing was superstar Donna Summer, whose gold-selling album The Wanderer became the label's first release in 1980. The label then released Double Fantasy by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Two weeks after it entered the charts, Lennon was murdered in New York City. Subsequently, the album went on to sell millions and gave Geffen its first number-one album and single; the rights to the album would later be taken over by EMI, which eventually was absorbed by Geffen's parent Universal Music.
As the 1980s progressed, Geffen would go on to have success with such acts as Berlin, Enya, Kylie Minogue, Quarterflash, Wang Chung, and Sammy Hagar. The label also signed several established acts such as Elton John, Irene Cara, Cher, Debbie Harry, Don Henley, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, and Jennifer Holliday. Toward the end of the decade, the company also began making a name for itself as an emerging rock label, thanks to the success of Whitesnake (U.S. and Canada only), The Stone Roses, Guns N' Roses, Tesla, Sonic Youth and the comeback of 1970s-era rockers Aerosmith. This prompted Geffen to create a subsidiary label, DGC Records in 1990; which focused on more progressive rock and would later embrace the emergence of alternative rock—Nirvana being an example. Geffen also briefly distributed the first incarnation of Def American Recordings through Warner Music Group from 1988 to 1990.
=== Acquisition by MCA[edit] ===
After a decade of operating through WMG, when its contract with the company expired, the label was sold to MCA Music Entertainment (later renamed Universal Music Group) in 1990. The deal ultimately earned David Geffen an estimated US$800 million in stock (until the Japanese conglomerate, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.'s cash acquisition of MCA in 1991, made Geffen a billionaire) and an employment contract that ran until 1995. Following the sale, Geffen Records operated as one of MCA's leading independently managed labels. Geffen stepped down as head of the label in 1995 to collaborate with Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg to form DreamWorks SKG, an ambitious multimedia empire dealing in film, television, books and music. Geffen Records would distribute releases on the new operation's DreamWorks Records subsidiary. In January 1996, Geffen Records funded and distributed a short-lived boutique label Outpost Recordings featuring the likes of Whiskeytown, Ry Cooder, Veruca Salt, and Hayden.[2]
=== Interscope-Geffen-A&M[edit] ===
Universal Music Group acquired PolyGram in 1999, resulting in a corporate reorganization of labels. Geffen Records, along with A&M Records, was subsequently merged into Interscope Records. Although Geffen would continue to exist as a brand, it was downsized to fit into the greater expansion of Interscope. At the same time, international distribution of Interscope and Geffen releases switched to ex-PolyGram label Polydor Records, which had already been distributing A&M releases overseas (in return for A&M handling Polydor releases in the U.S.).
By 2000, despite Geffen Records no longer being independently operated within UMG and taking a more submissive position behind Interscope, it continued to do steady business—so much so that in 2003, UMG folded MCA Records into Geffen. Though Geffen had been substantially a pop-rock label, its absorption of MCA (and its back catalogs) led to a more diverse roster; with former MCA artists such as Mary J. Blige, The Roots, Blink-182, Rise Against and Common now featured on the label. Meanwhile, DreamWorks Records also folded, with artists such as Nelly Furtado, Lifehouse and Rufus Wainwright being absorbed by Geffen as well. During this time, DGC Records was also folded into Geffen, with retained artists now recording for Geffen directly (DGC was reactivated in 2007, however it would now operate through Interscope Records instead).
As the 2000s progressed, Geffen's absorption of the MCA and DreamWorks labels, along with continuing to sign new acts such as Ashlee Simpson, Angels & Airwaves, Snoop Dogg and The Game, had boosted the company to the extent that it began gaining equal footing with the main Interscope label, leading some industry insiders to speculate that it could revert to operating as an independently managed imprint at UMG again. At the end of 2007, however, Geffen was absorbed further into Interscope.[3] The restructuring resulted in Geffen laying off sixty employees.[4][5]
In 2009, it was announced that Geffen Records had signed an agreement with the Holy See to produce an album of Marian songs and prayers from Pope Benedict XVI.[6]
Jimmy Iovine relaunched the Geffen imprint in 2011, moving its headquarters from California to New York City. Gee Roberson was appointed chairman.[7]
In March 2017, Neil Jacobson was appointed President of Geffen Records to oversee the relaunch of the label via new signings as well as reinvigoration of the label's legendary catalog.[8] In December 2019, Jacobson left Geffen to start Crescent Drive Productions.[9]
In January 2020, Lee L'Heureux was appointed General Manager of Geffen Records.[10]
== Joint Ventures[edit] ==
Main article: Universal Music Group
* Downtown Records
* Rebel Music
* SpindleHorse Music
* Outpost Recordings
== Current artists[edit] ==
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* 24Lik
* 24 LeftEye
* 392 Lil Head
* Abby Jasmine (Cinematic Music Group/Geffen Records)
* aldn
* Ann Marie
* Brokeasf
* BTS[11] (Big Hit Music; distribution in the US)
* Dave
* Hotboii (Rebel Music/Geffen Records)
* Iayze (Simple Stupid/Geffen Records)
* J.I.
* Kidd G
* midwxst (Simple Stupid/Geffen Records)
* Li Heat
* LILHUDDY
* Olivia Rodrigo
* Sarah Proctor
* Seventeen[12] (Pledis Entertainment; distribution in the US)
* SpotemGottem (Rebel Music/Geffen Records)
* Tay Money
* Tokyo's Revenge (Blac Noize!/Cypress Park Music/Geffen Records/Interscope Records; distribution licensed to Foundation Media)
* Yeat (Field Trip/TwizzyRich/Geffen Records)
== Past artists[edit] ==
See also: List of Geffen Records artists
* Aerosmith (from Columbia Records)
* Aimee Mann
* Alex Salibian
* AlunaGeorge
* Angels & Airwaves
* Ashlee Simpson
* Avicii
* Bipolar Sunshine
* blink-182 (from MCA Records)
* Box Car Racer
* Cher
* Counting Crows
* Dazz Band
* DJ Snake
* Don Henley
* Donna Summer
* Eagles
* Elton John
* Emile Haynie
* Enya
* Eve (from Ruff Ryders/Interscope Records)
* Finch (from Drive-Thru Records)
* The Game (from Aftermath/G-Unit/Interscope Records)
* Garbage (from Almo Sounds)
* Girlicious
* Greyson Chance (eleveneleven/Maverick/Geffen)
* Gryffin
* Guns N' Roses
* GZA
* Jacob Collier
* Jeff Bhasker
* Jennifer Holliday
* John Lennon
* John Waite
* Keyshia Cole
* Kylie Minogue
* Lifehouse
* Lil Durk (from Alamo/OTF/Interscope Records)
* Lil Jon
* Marshmello
* Martin Terefe
* Mary J. Blige (from MCA Records)
* Mura Masa
* Nelly Furtado (from DreamWorks Records)
* New Found Glory
* Nirvana (DGC Records), including Happy Tree Friends
* Orianthi
* Peter Gabriel (US/Canada)
* Quarterflash
* The Plimsouls
* Puddle of Mudd
* Rise Against
* Rod Wave (from Alamo; distribution licensed to Foundation Media)
* Smokepurpp (from Alamo/Interscope Records)
* Snoop Dogg (Doggystyle\Star Trak\Geffen)
* Solange (Music World/Geffen)
* Sonic Youth
* The Starting Line (from Drive-Thru Records)
* Tesla
* The Like
* XTC
* Yoko Ono
* Weezer
* Wang Chung
* Yungblud[13]
== See also[edit] ==
* Geffen Records discography
* John Kalodner
* List of record labels