A&M Octone Records was an American

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the pr ...

owned as a joint venture between

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

and Octone Records. A full-service artist development label, it was founded in 2007 as a merger between Octone and Interscope Geffen A&M's defunct

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

label. For its six years of existence, A&M Octone operated music publishing, merchandising, and touring entities, in addition to specializing in recorded music. In September 2013, Octone initiated its buy/sell rights in the joint venture, resulting in Interscope Geffen A&M purchasing Octone's 50% interest in A&M Octone, with

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mu ...

absorbing and restructuring its artist roster in 2014.

Overview

History

Launched in 2000, Octone Records was founded by CEO/President

James Diener James Diener is an American entertainment and music executive. He is the co-founder of Freesolo Entertainment; an entertainment company comprising Freesolo Music, a record label joint venture with Interscope Records/Universal Music Group; Freesol ...

and distributed through

Bertelsmann Music Group Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music co ...

(known as

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyou ...

since 2004). After successful signing, release, marketing and promotion on Octone, artists were given the option of upstreaming to RCA Music Group, via a joint-venture between the two companies. Upon launch, Diener and Octone Records were also well known in the music industry for their entrepreneurial private-equity financing model. In February 2007, Interscope-Geffen-A&M partnered with Octone Records to relaunch the A&M label, headed by James Diener and called A&M/Octone Records with worldwide distribution handled by parent Universal Music Group. The existing Octone roster was transferred to the A&M/Octone label and all new artist signings were made under the A&M/Octone joint venture. The legal name of the A&M/Octone label was "OctoScope Music, LLC" (d.b.a. A&M/Octone Records), the name derives from the merger of the labels Octone and Interscope. OctoScope Music, LLC was the copyright holder on all A&M/Octone releases. A&M/Octone Records operated from 2007 until 2014.

Executive staff

, CEO/president * David Boxenbaum, general manager/chief operating officer * Ben Berkman, EVP/head of promotion * Rome Thomas, senior vice president sales & artist development * Nina Webb, head of marketing * Roi Hernandez, head of creative services & electronic A&R * Yu-Ting Lin, vice president A&R admin & label operations

Former recording artists

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

K'Naan Keinan Abdi Warsame (born 1 February 1978) ( so, Keynaan Cabdi Warsame, ar, كَينَان عَبدِ وَرسَمَ ''Kaynān ʿAbdi Warsama''), better known by his stage name K'naan (), is a Somali-Canadian musician. He rose to prominenc ...

* Flyleaf *

Hollywood Undead Hollywood Undead is an American rap rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2005. All of the band members use pseudonyms and previously wore their own unique mask, most of which were based on the common hockey goaltender design. The ...

* Kat Graham *

The Hives The Hives are a Swedish rock band that rose to prominence in the early 2000s during the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the album '' Veni Vidi Vicious'', containing the single "Hate to Say I Told You So". ...

* The Knocks *

Bombay Bicycle Club Bombay Bicycle Club are an English indie rock band from Crouch End, London, consisting of Jack Steadman, Jamie MacColl, Suren de Saram, and Ed Nash. They are guitar-fronted and have experimented with different genres, including folk, electro ...

* Hunter Hunted * Drop City Yacht Club * Kevin Hammond * Duncan *

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

* As Fast As *

Dropping Daylight Dropping Daylight is an American rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. They have performed with Jason Mraz, The Pixies, Plain White T's, Jonas Brothers, Paramore, Papa Roach, Cypress Hill, Green Day, Phantom Planet, The Misfits, Blue October, ...

Paper Tongues Paper Tongues is an American alternative rock band from Charlotte, North Carolina. The band currently consists of Aswan North (lead vocals) and Daniel Santell ( bass guitar). Their sound is described as fusing rock n' roll melodies with beats, an ...

Michael Tolcher Michael Tolcher is an American singer-songwriter who blends pop, blues, and urban grooves. He was born in Front Royal, Virginia, and has lived most of his life in and around Atlanta, Georgia. Biography Growing up just south of Atlanta, Ge ...

Miss Willie Brown Miss Willie Brown was an American country music duo consisting of Amanda Watkins and Kasey Buckley, who are respectively natives of West Virginia and Texas but met in California. They are signed to A&M/Octone Records, to which they were the first ...

References

External links

*A&M/Octone Records official website (site no longer active)
Octone Records

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

case study
June 2009 Los Angeles Times
interview
January 2010 CNN/Money
video profile
March 2010 NY Enterprise Report
cover story

A&M/Octone Records - Harvard Business School Case Study Part II

* [http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2011/01/27/Music-Brands-Coke-Knaan-2010-FIFA-World-Cup-Campaign.aspx January 2011 MIDEM Convention panel in Cannes, Frances w/James Diener discussing K'Naan/Coca Cola World Cup campaign & A&M/Octone artist development] {{DEFAULTSORT:AandM Octone Records Record labels established in 2007 Record labels disestablished in 2014 A&M Records Interscope Records American record labels Alternative rock record labels Rock record labels Labels distributed by Universal Music Group Companies based in New York City

Overview

History

Executive staff

Former recording artists

See also

References

External links