Motown Record Company, L.P.

Motown Record Company, L.P., record company founded in Detroit, Michigan, that brought black performers and black music to the mainstream popular music charts and became the largest black-owned business in the United States. The company is also known as Motown Records, or simply as Motown. Motown—named after Detroit, known as the Motor City—was founded by Berry Gordy, Jr., in 1959. Gordy and his team of in-house producers fused gospel and pop into an appealing, crisp, melodic sound.

By the end of 1967, Motown had launched many artists who would create pop music history, including Smokey Robinson, Mary Wells, Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Four Tops, Martha and the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, and the Supremes. Led by Diana Ross, the Supremes had five straight number one hits on the Billboard charts in 1964 and 1965. Although black music had ascended the pop charts before, its success had never been so consistent. Motown kept up with the musical styles of the late 1960s and early 1970s, producing quasi-psychedelic hits by the Temptations, as well as Marvin Gaye's socially conscious concept album, What's Going On (1971).

In 1971 Gordy moved the company to Los Angeles. Motown then began following music trends, rather than leading them. However, the company still produced notable hits, including songs by Wonder, the Jackson 5, Rick James, the Commodores, and Lionel Richie.

In 1988 Gordy sold Motown Records to a consortium headed by MCA record company. Under its new president, Jheryl Busby, the company again developed a fresh, snappy sound and won success with young acts such as the vocal group Boyz II Men, whose single “End of the Road” set records in 1992 by remaining at number one on the Billboard charts for 13 weeks, longer than any other song since the pop charts began. In 1993 the PolyGram Group purchased Motown Records from MCA. After a series of mergers and buyouts, Motown became part of the media conglomerate Vivendi Universal in 2000.