 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "J Records" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(November 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| J Records | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parent company | Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) (2000–2008) Sony Music Entertainment (SME) (2008–2011) |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Founder | Clive Davis |
| Defunct | October 7, 2011 |
| Status | Inactive |
| Distributors |
|
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | United States |
J Records was an Americanrecord label owned and operated byBertelsmann Music Group until it was transferred toSony Music Entertainment when they acquired all of BMG's record labels in late 2008at the end of their merger. It was distributed through theRCA Music Group. The label was founded in 2000 byClive Davis and was dissolved intoRCA Records in 2011.
J Records was founded in2000 by industry veteranClive Davis with $150 million in financing fromBMG, after his ousting fromArista Records the same year, and initially operated as an independently managed company distributed through BMG. Clive Davis' office and the headquarters of J Records were initially located in theWaldorf-Astoria Hotel.[1]Olivia was the first artist to sign with J Records but was later dropped because of poor album sales. In 2001, the label found success with its multi-platinum record inaugural release,Songs in A Minor, the debut album ofAlicia Keys, which sold over 12 million copies worldwide. The same year,Lyric signed to the label and became the first female group act under J Records.[2] By late 2001, J Records attained another success with the platinum-selling debut album byO-Town. Later, established artists likeD'Angelo,Luther Vandross,Jamie Foxx, andMonica would join the J roster, the latter three going on to find multi-platinum success with the label. That same year, Clive Davis and J negotiated a joint venture deal with rapper and record producerSwizz Beatz, which culminated in the founding of Swizz Beatz's labelFull Surface Records. The roster includedMashonda andCassidy.
In 2002, BMG bought a majority stake in the label. The same year, J Records began functioning under theRCA Music Group, where Davis had been appointed president and CEO, and signedAmerican Idol winnersFantasia andRuben Studdard. In August 2005, J Records' operations were merged with Arista Records, although both labels continued to release their own product.
In March 2004, Full Surface and J released Cassidy's debut studio album,Split Personality. The lead single from the album wasHotel, and the second single wasGet No Better (featuring Mashonda). Hotel peaked in the top 5 on theBillboard Hot 100, while the album peaked in the top 3 on theBillboard 200 and was certified gold in America in one month.
In mid-2011, RCA Music Group underwent a restructuring which shuttered J along with sister labelsJive andArista on October 7, 2011.RCA Records and began releasing all RCA Music Group releases under RCA Records.[3][4][5]
