Arista Records facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Arista Records |
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| Parent company | |
| Founded | 1974 (original label; as Arista Records, Inc.) 2018 (as Arista Records LLC) |
| Founder | Clive Davis |
| Status | Active |
| Distributor(s) |
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| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | New York City, New York, U.S. |
Arista Records is an American record label. It is owned by Sony Music Entertainment. This company is part of Sony Corporation of America. Sony is a big Japanese company.
Arista Records was started in November 1974 by Clive Davis. It was closed in 2011 but then reopened in 2018. Arista is one of Sony Music's main record labels. The others are RCA Records, Columbia Records, and Epic Records.
Contents
History of Arista Records
How Arista Records Started
Clive Davis was a very important person in the music world. In 1974, he was asked to help with the music part of Columbia Pictures. He became the head of Bell Records.
Davis wanted to make a new, strong music company. With money from Columbia Pictures, he created Arista Records in November 1974. He even owned 20 percent of the new company. The name "Arista" came from a school honor society in New York City. Clive Davis had been a member of this group.
Many artists from Bell Records left or moved to other labels. But some popular acts stayed with Arista. These included Barry Manilow, the Bay City Rollers, and Melissa Manchester.
Arista Records signed many famous artists over the years. In 1976, they signed the Grateful Dead. The Grateful Dead had a big hit song called "Touch of Grey" in 1987. Other artists included Patti Smith, Air Supply, the Kinks, and Lou Reed. In 1980, Aretha Franklin joined Arista.
A very important moment for Arista was in 1983. Clive Davis signed Whitney Houston. She became Arista's biggest-selling artist. She sold over 200 million records around the world!
Different Music Styles and Labels
Arista Records also had special labels for different types of music. In the 1970s, Arista Novus focused on modern jazz. Arista Freedom was for a type of jazz called avant-garde.
They also had labels for country music. Career Records and Arista Austin were for country artists. Arista Texas (later Arista Latin) was for Tejano and Regional Mexican music. Arista also helped distribute music for other labels like Jive Records for a while.
Changes in Ownership
In 1979, Columbia Pictures sold Arista to a German company called Ariola Records. This company was part of Bertelsmann. Later, in 1983, Bertelsmann sold half of Arista to RCA Records.
In 1985, RCA and Bertelsmann joined their music businesses. They formed RCA/Ariola International. Then, in 1986, Bertelsmann bought all of RCA's share. The company was renamed Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG).
Arista continued to grow. It bought other record labels in the UK. In 1989, Arista worked with L.A. Reid and Babyface to create LaFace Records. LaFace signed big stars like Toni Braxton, Usher, Outkast, and TLC. Arista later bought LaFace Records. In 1993, Arista also partnered with Sean Combs to form Bad Boy Records.
The Milli Vanilli Situation
In 1989, Arista Records signed a music group called Milli Vanilli. They were a duo from Germany. Their first album, Girl You Know It's True, became very popular. It sold millions of copies and had several hit songs. Milli Vanilli even won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
However, later it was revealed that the two members of Milli Vanilli did not sing on their album. Other singers had recorded the songs. This news caused a big stir in the music industry. Many people were upset about the deception.
Because of this, Milli Vanilli's Grammy Award was taken away. Clive Davis quickly ended their contract with Arista. The album was removed from their music catalog. A court even allowed people who bought the album to get their money back. Arista Records stated they did not know about the deception.
New Leadership and Mergers
At the end of 2000, Clive Davis left Arista Records. L.A. Reid became the new president. Under Reid, Arista had success with new artists like Avril Lavigne, Pink, and Kelis. However, some of the older, more famous artists on the label did not have as much success.
In 2004, BMG and Sony Music Entertainment joined together. L.A. Reid left Arista. Arista Records then merged with J Records. J Records was a label that Clive Davis had started after leaving Arista. This meant Clive Davis was once again in charge of Arista.
The Arista label continued to release new music. Older Arista songs were re-released through Sony Music's Legacy Recordings.
Arista Records Closes and Reopens
In 2011, Arista Records was closed down. Its sister labels, J Records and Jive, also closed. All new music from these labels began to be released under RCA Records. However, Arista Nashville, which focuses on country music, continued to operate.
In July 2018, it was announced that Arista Records would be brought back. It is now one of the four main record labels under Sony Music. David Massey was hired to lead the revived Arista.
Arista Nashville
In 1989, Arista Records started Arista Nashville. This part of the company focuses on country music artists. Alan Jackson was the first artist to sign with Arista Nashville.
Today, Arista Nashville is part of Sony Music Nashville. It is home to popular artists like Carrie Underwood, Ronnie Dunn, and Jerrod Niemann.
Artists
See also
In Spanish: Arista Records para niños
- Arista Records artists
- Arista Nashville
- List of record labels
