Though Geffen had been substantially a pop-rock label, its absorption of MCA (which also included the ABC Records, Dunhill Records, Song Bird Records, Duke Records, Peacock Records, Back Beat Records and Hickory Records, and Famous Music Group, which included Dot Records and Paramount Records, among other back catalogues) led to a more diverse roster with former MCA artists such as Mary J. Although Geffen continued to exist as its own imprint, it was now reduced in size and stature to fit into the greater expansion of Interscope.īy 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. Geffen Records, along with A&M Records, was subsequently merged into Interscope Records. MCA, through its then-parent Seagram, acquired PolyGram in 1999, which created the Universal Music Group, resulting in a corporate reorganization of labels. Geffen Records would distribute releases on the new operation's DreamWorks Records subsidiary. Geffen stepped down as head of the label in 1995 and collaborated with Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg to form DreamWorks SKG, an ambitious multimedia empire dealing in film, television, books, and music. Following the sale, Geffen Records operated as one of MCA's leading independently managed labels. The deal ultimately earned David Geffen an estimated US$800 million in cash and stock, and an employment contract that ran until 1995. from 1988 to 1990.Īfter a decade of operating through Warner, when its contract with the company expired, the label was sold to MCA Music Entertainment in 1990. Geffen also distributed the first incarnation of Def American Recordings through Warner Bros. This prompted Geffen to create a subsidiary label, named DGC Records in 1990, which focused on more progressive sounds and would later embrace the emergence of alternative rock. 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 (US only), Guns N' Roses, Tesla and the mainstream comeback of '70s era rockers Aerosmith. Geffen Records also had early success with several big 80s acts including Quarterflash, Oxo, Asia, Wang Chung, and a pre-Van Halen Sammy Hagar.Īs the 1980s progressed, Geffen Records continued to sign a handful of established music icons, including Elton John, Cher, Don Henley, Wang Chung, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, and Jennifer Holliday.
Subsequently, the album went on to sell millions and gave Geffen its first number-one album and single (the rights to the album are now owned by EMI). Two days after it entered the charts, Lennon was assassinated in New York City. It was Lennon's first album of all-new material in several years. The label followed it up with Double Fantasy by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Geffen Records' first signee was disco superstar Donna Summer, whose gold-selling album The Wanderer became the label's first release in 1980. (International distribution outside the US and Canada, meanwhile, moved from WEA in 1982 to CBS until 1990.) Warner provided 100 percent of the funding for the label's operations, while Geffen retained 50 percent of the profits, and distributed its records. Geffen stepped down from Asylum after being diagnosed with a cancerous cyst, but following confirmation that the growth was benign, he returned to work and struck a deal with Warner Bros. Geffen Records was founded in 1980 by music industry businessman David Geffen who, in the early 1970s, had founded Asylum Records.
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