is an
American Record Label , owned by
Universal Music Group , and operates as one third of UMG's
Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.
Geffen Records was founded in
1980 by music industry businessman
David Geffen who, in the early
1970s , had formed
Asylum Records . Geffen stepped down from Asylum after being diagnosed with a cancerous cyst but, following confirmation that the growth was benign, returned to work and struck a deal with
Warner Bros. Records to create Geffen Records. Warner provided 100 percent of the funding for the label's operations, while Geffen retained 50 percent of the profits, and distributed its records. ''(International distribution outside the US and Canada, meanwhile, moved from WEA in 1982 to CBS until 1990.)''
Geffen Records' first signee was
Disco superstar
Donna Summer , whose
Gold -selling album ''
The Wanderer '' became the label's first release in 1980. The label followed it up with ''
Double Fantasy '' by
John Lennon and
Yoko Ono . It was Lennon's first album of all-new material in several years. Two days after it entered the charts, Lennon was assassinated in New York City. 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 ).
Geffen Records also had early success with several "big 80s" acts including
Quarterflash ,
Oxo ,
Asia ,
Wang Chung , and a pre-Van Halen
Sammy Hagar .
As 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 , and
Peter Gabriel . 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 . This prompted Geffen to create a subsidiary label, named
DGC Records in 1990. DGC is an acronym for ''David Geffen Company''. The label focused on more progressive sounds and would later embrace the emergence of
Alternative Rock , with influential acts like
Nirvana ,
Sonic Youth ,
Beck ,
Weezer ,
Counting Crows ,
Hole ,
The Sundays ,
Teenage Fanclub , as well as early releases by
Hip Hop heavyweights
The Roots .
After a decade of operating through Warner, when its contract with the company expired, David Geffen sold the label to
MCA Music Entertainment. (later renamed
Universal Music Group ) in 1990. The deal ultimately earned him an estimated $1 billion in cash and stock, and an employment contract that ran until 1995. Following the sale, Geffen Records operated as one of Universal's leading independently managed labels. 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. Geffen Records would distribute releases on the new operation's
DreamWorks Records subsidiary.
Universal Music Group acquired
PolyGram in 1998, resulting in a corporate reorganization of labels. Geffen Records, along with
A&M Records , was subsequently merged into
Interscope Records . 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. Geffen's DGC division, meanwhile, virtually ceased all of its operations, with most of their artists signing directly with Geffen or Interscope. Today, DGC exists an exclusive imprint for all Nirvana material that has continued to be released in recent years, in addition to being the American home to English act
The Klaxons .
By ,
The Roots ,
Avant ,
Blink-182 , and
Common now featured on the label. Meanwhile, DreamWorks Records also folded, with much of that company being absorbed by Geffen as well.
Geffen's absorption of the MCA and DreamWorks labels, along with its continuing to sign new acts like
Ashlee Simpson ,
Angels And Airwaves ,
Nelly Furtado and
Snoop Dogg , as well as the recently signed hip-hop artist
The Game , have boosted the company to the extent that it is now gaining equal footing with the main Interscope label, leading some industry insiders to predict that it might revert to operating as a dominant imprint at UMG again soon.
See Also: Universal Music Group
