MOTOWN

What was Motown?

Motown Records was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. on January 12, 1959, in Detroit, Michigan. The label achieved unprecedented crossover success in the 1960's and continued with that success through the late 1980s with a variety of different artists and acts. Fun Fact: Between the years 1960 and 1969, Motown produced 79 records which landed in the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 record chart. gasdfa

 

Wow that's a lot of records. What made them so successful?

Motown's mastermind was Berry Gordy Jr. Gordy was able to do a great many things while he helmed Motown, however his company's beginnings were nothing like a fairy tale. Gordy, under advice of one of his artists, Smokey Robinson, asked his family for $800 to start his shop, and once he did that, he was able to build relationships and orchestrate productions that were simply delightful. Gordy was able to work with Robinson to pen quite a few hits, but he could see how much of the market he was missing. By the late 1950s, Detroit was the largest city in the United States without a strong, independent record label, but Motown was able to provide that. Suddenly, the talent that Detroit was producing had an outlet. Gordy then began signing talent and cranking out records. He would try numerous combinations to get the sound he wanted (the "Assembly Line" method of recording), and he always got what he wanted in the end. 

 

Ok, but you still haven't told us what made them so successful?

Gordy was an entrepreneurial mastermind. He saw the way that his music was appealing to a broad spectrum of consumers based on their racial identity or their socio-economic class, but he felt that he could capitalize even more on that fact. Gordey wanted everyone in America to hear and love his artists and their music, so he began training them with the help of a few important people. Gordy then created Motown's Artist Development Department, which taught his artists how to sit, stand, speak and act with elegance and refinement, no matter what the setting. Everything from their performances to their costumes to their choreography was carefully controlled and manipulated to sell this Detroit sound to the masses. He wanted to break down the social barriers that society had constructed. He wanted to transcend class and destroy race, all while bringing his audiences phenomenal music.

 

Gordy's hiring of anyone and everyone who was willing to do the work made ensured that he had the best product possible and, as many say, if you're one of the best at what you do, you will attract opportunities. Still, his hiring of white, Jewish men in particular allowed his company to tap into the mindset of other white people across the country. This, possibly coupled with the quality of the content and the vision of the lyricism  worked beautifully  to break down cultural barriers and attract attention from people of all walks of life.

 

Ultimately, Gordy was able to provide an environment that nurtured the growth of his artists and allowed them to fully develop. The minds of the people at Motown were incredibly rich, and together, they formed an creative base from which it seemed anyone could achieve success. From Gordy to Robinson, Ross to Knight - whomever you looked at, you knew they were talented and you knew that if they paired themselves with Motown, they would make hits.  

 

Oh, I get it! But wait...if they were so successful, then why did the company leave Detroit?

Gordy and company had already begun shifting their operations out to branch offices in New York City and Los Angeles, but with escalations in race relations that culminated in the violent riots of 1967 along with Los Angeles' place within the entertainment (and more specifically the motion picture industry), Gordy felt it best to shift the company's headquarters to Los Angeles.

 

One of the main reasons behind the move was Motown's eagerness to break into the film industry. Motown