Record Labels

Will. I. Am Music Group

This is Will. I. Am’s own record label

Background

• Will.i.am music group is a vanity label founded by music artist will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas.

• Other than will.i.am, there are popular artists such as Fergie, Macy Gray and Sérgio Mendes signed to the label.

• Both Fergie and LMFAO are the label's most successful artists.

• The label was an imprint of A&M Records until Will.i.am and Fergie switched to Interscope Records in 2009 along with their group, it is now an imprint of Interscope Records.

Artists

• Macy Gray (former)• Fergie• Sérgio Mendes(former)• LMFAO• Cheryl Cole (US only)• Natalia Kills• 2NE1 (US only)• Kelis (former)

Interscope

Background• Interscope Records is an American record label owned

founded by Jimmy Iovine and Giorgio Saravia in 1989. It is based in Santa Monica, California and operates as one third of Universal Music Group's Interscope Geffen A&M. The label is home to over 146 artists.

• Financial support came from Atlantic Records, which owned a 53% stock in the label.

• Initially, it was distributed by the Atlantic Records subsidiary EastWest Records America.

• A&R Executive Tom Whalley, John McClain and producer Beau Hill A&R Joe Lee Jozwiak were also part of the original founding team. The label's first release was Mo' Ritmo by Gerardo.

• PolyGram acquired Atlantic's stake in the label in 1995 due to controversy over gangsta rap, a genre which Interscope championed.

• The original focus of the label was on hip-hop and urban music, but by the mid 1990s its range began to expand.

• It now has a wide range including the industrial rock artist Nine Inch Nails under Nothing Records, shock rocker Marilyn Manson, rock band Limp Bizkit, No Doubt and later the Latin artist Kings Of Flow in a unique partnership with Los Angeles based indie Latin label.

• Following UMG's acquisition of PolyGram in 1998, Geffen Records and A&M Records were merged into Interscope.

• In 2004, DreamWorks Records was merged into the Interscope-Geffen-A&M group bringing over artists including Blink-182, Papa Roach, Rise Against, Nelly Furtado, Lifehouse, AFI, The All-American Rejects, Jimmy Eat World and Rufus Wainwright. The artists were divided between Interscope and Geffen, with most going to the latter.

• In 2005 Interscope launched a new imprint called Cherrytree Records, for emerging artists. This began with the group The Lovemakers and later included Far East Movement, Feist, Natalia Kills, Flipsyde, Tokio Hotel, and Robyn.

• Lady Gaga is with Interscope, but no longer with Cherrytree as of 2011. LMFAO and Mindless Behavior are also part of the Interscope Records Major Hits.

• 19 Recordings (2011–Present)• A&M Octone Records (2007–present)• Aftermath Entertainment (1996–present)• Bad Boy Records (2009–present)• Cherrytree Records (2005–present)• Glory Boyz Entertainment (2012–present)• Kon Live Distribution (2007–present)• Mosley Music Group (2006–present)• Qwest Records• Shady Records (1999–present)• Star Trak Entertainment (2005–Present)• Streamline Records (2007–present)• Tennman Records (2007–present)• Will.i.am Music Group (2009–present)• Zone 4 (2007–present) (distribution deal with Def Jam Recordings)

Associated record labels under Interscope Records

Current artists signed to the label