Motown Now

By the mid-1970’s, many of the Motown artists began to refuse Berry Gordy’s strict rules and his tight control.  They had no say or creative input into the music that they were singing. Frustrated with the treatment that they believed was unfair and very restricting, artists started to leave the business one-by-one.  It started off with Gladys Knight & The Pips, then the Jackson 5, and so on. Gordy, afraid for his business, quickly began to offer obscene amounts of money to those who would stay with his record company, like Stevie Wonder.  He always mentioned in public statements his overwhelming disappointment and his belief that his beloved superstars were interested more in money than in their loyalty toward him.  In June of 1988, it got to the devastating point to where Motown was beginning to go under and Berry Gordy decided that it was time to sell his business. Motown records sold for $61 million.  He was upset and emotional, but felt that the decision he made was best. In hopes of keeping the memory of Motown alive, Gordy and his sister, Esther Edwards, gathered old memorabilia that she had saved such as photos, original music scores, and posters.  They then placed them in that little house on Detroit’s West Grand Boulevard, which was the first and primary headquarters of the Motown Record label. It was first named Hitsville, USA, but is now and forever known as the Motown Museum.  Michael Jackson, still very close friends with Gordy at the time, offered him about $125,000 to preserve the museum and all of its valuable items. It still stands today and is open to the public. Many years later, in 2005, the purchased Motown Records merged with present day urban artists on Universal Records to create Universal Motown Records. Some of the artists that belong to this new label are Nelly, Kid Cudi, Drake, and Akon. Some call this new record label the modern incarnation of the legendary Motown Records; however, most would agree that the era of Motown is one of a kind and cannot be anywhere close to imitated.

Link to the Official Universal Motown website: http://www.universalmotown.com/home/
Link to the Motown Museum website: http://www.motownmuseum.com/