Motown. UK Company

[Winsford Soul]

Would love to hear people's views on this. 50 years to late ? Or better late than never 

0https://www.billboard.com/amp/articles/news/9448361/motown-records-launches-u-k-company

[Ficklefingers]

I'd say 50 years too late Ste.. but others may have a different view ??

[Winsford Soul]

58 minutes ago, Ficklefingers said:

I'd say 50 years too late Ste.. but others may have a different view ??

I'm with you John regarding the 50 years to late.  

[Chalky]

Is this to milk more money from the same old same Motown or to explore its vast catalogue?  Maybe they have seen what good the reissue labels like Kent etc have been doung?

[Winsford Soul]

10 minutes ago, Chalky said:

Is this to milk more money from the same old same Motown or to explore its vast catalogue?  Maybe they have seen what good the reissue labels like Kent etc have been doung?

Karl. Apparently its to sign the new talent thats is appearing on the streets here in the UK 

[Chalky]

7 minutes ago, Winsford Soul said:

Karl. Apparently its to sign the new talent thats is appearing on the streets here in the UK 

Yeah just read that, alongside the US talent.  Call me a cynic but is this exploiting the situation with BLM’s with black music being more in the spotlight recently? Not a bad thing by any means but why has it taken so long for the premier black music label to get its act together once again?

Edited September 14, 2020 by Chalky

[Daved]

Motown isn't really a company now as we knew it. It's just a name as part of the huge Universal conglomerate and is used because people are familiar with it, not that it has any of the original characteristics. 

Edited September 15, 2020 by Daved

[Mickey Finn]

Some would argue that Motown never recovered from relocating to LA from Detroit. But after a really weak 1980s the sale to MCA which was then absorbed by Universal has meant that it's been decades since the label had any clear reason for its continued existence. There was an effort in the early 90s to make it more distinct, led by Steve McKeever I believe, who revived the MoJazz label in 1992, and he was followed by Kedar Massenburg who signed Will Downing for a one-off album release, along with Erykah Badu. But since then ...

[Thinksmart]

'Bring me the next Stormzy'

 

[Chalky]

 

5 hours ago, Daved said:

Motown isn't really a company now as we knew it. It's just a name as put of the huge Universal conglomerate and is used because people are familiar with it, not that it has any of the original characteristics. 

Are any labels how we knew them? I would think most are owned by conglomerates with no identity anymore.  Given the history  I’m surprised though it has taken UMG so long to make use of the name in the world of black music.  

Edited September 15, 2020 by Chalky

[Mickey Finn]

Very good point. Considering all the highly credentialled MBAs walking the corridors of these firms you'd think someone would realise what a treasure trove they are sitting on. Motown in particular has been a victim of some of the worst and laziest repackaging of its back catalogue for many years, going all the way back to the late 80s when cheaply dashed off compilations and occasional album reissues with the barest of liner notes were being put out supposedly to cash in on the rising cd market. Only later and largely through the efforts of specialist non-employees of Motown or even Universal there have been some excellent repackagings of the back catalogue (e.g., from the now defunct Hip-o Select label, Kent, Soulmusic.com) and compilations of previously unreleased gems (e.g., Cellarful of Motown series). This is maybe what the article refers to when it says

"Through the years, Motown music was released on various UMG labels and as highly sought-after imports."

Doesn't say much for the people running the company during those years.

There was a time not so long ago when the UK and US branches of Universal were not even talking to each other, making the work of reissue and archive specialists even more difficult.

Altogether this doesn't sound like such a clever marketing idea, since Motown is still mainly known for its 60s heyday and the big stars associated with that, which is unlikely to interest many of those digging Stormzy. But if they are prepared to make the investment and are in it for the long haul, then good luck to them. They'll find that Tony Blackburn and Sharon Davis are still around to cheer them on.

[Davenpete]

Pete would've had a few things to say about this! 

'Motown' never existed in Britain, TMG never recorded in Britain (unless there's some live stuff somewhere) - so there's no legitimacy to this at all - whilst it's nice to see the name alive, it's just a cynical cash in.

...A few years ago TMG was literally a phone on a desk with nobody even officially responsible for it... Until that 'evil' Mr King ruined everything for them by delivering an explosion in interest for all the unissued stuff they didn't even know they had.

Dx

Edited September 15, 2020 by Davenpete

[Tomangoes]

Not sure if using the iconic name is a blessing or a curse for the new talent.

This girl has a nice enough voice:

I guess any investment to make good soul music is welcome.

Ed

[Chalky]

2 hours ago, Tomangoes said:

Not sure if using the iconic name is a blessing or a curse for the new talent.

This girl has a nice enough voice:

I guess any investment to make good soul music is welcome.

Ed

But if you look at the info it is UMG on behalf of Motown, if you are going to promote a label leave the UMG out of it and push the brand. 
 

like you say nice enough voice but it is nothing different to any other mainstream black artists out there.  They need to look what companies like Timmion, Big Crown etc are doing with black music.   

Edited September 16, 2020 by Chalky

[Mickey Finn]

On 16/09/2020 at 10:26, Chalky said:

But if you look at the info it is UMG on behalf of Motown, if you are going to promote a label leave the UMG out of it and push the brand. 
 

Yesterday my copy of Cellarful of Motown vol 5 arrived. In addition to the front cover where the art work of the series remains consistent, there's a new development on the back. UMG has gone except in the small print, but there is no logo associated with Motown. Instead there's this hippyish-designed "Caroline", which is UMG's reissue label covering all genres (not even just soul).

And in that small print, there's a typo in the middle of all the terribly important detail about who licensed what to whom (and all within the same company )

For a company supposedly making such a number out of reviving a classic brand, this is a textbook case study of how not to do it.