Interscope Records

History

1990–1995: Origins, early success, and joint ventures

In 1989, Ted Field began to build Interscope Records as a division of his film company, Interscope Communications. To run it, he hired John McClain, who had played a central role in Janet Jackson's success at A&M Records, and Tom Whalley, who had been the head of A&R at Capitol Records. Separately, Iovine, who had produced records for U2, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks, and John Lennon, among others, was trying to raise money to start a label. "I thought, 'Music is going to change,' " Iovine said in 1997. "'Young bands aren't going to be asking for me.' But I love working with the new thing. I always liked the part of the business that's the first time you hear something, and I knew I wasn't in that business anymore."

Iovine and Field were introduced by Paul McGuinness, then U2's manager. After a series of negotiations led by David Geffen, they came to an agreement, and in 1990, Interscope Records was founded as a joint venture with Atlantic Records. In a 1997 article in Rolling Stone, David Wild wrote: "Interscope's start-up coincided with a period of incredible change in the music world. Nirvana had ushered in the alternative revolution... While the major labels were packed with rosters full of expensive veteran artists who had to redefine themselves for a new rock era, Interscope was in the business of signing new artists and could – as Iovine puts it – 'move on a dime.'"

Based in Los Angeles, California in the Westwood neighborhood at an office building on 10900 Wilshire Boulevard, Interscope was run by "music men". It was a departure from the music industry practices of the 1970s and 1980s, when labels traditionally appointed lawyers and promotion executives to senior positions. A founding tenet of the label was that artists would have complete creative control.

Interscope's first release was "Rico Suave" by Ecuadorian rapper Gerardo in December 1990; the single reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in April 1991. Primus' Interscope debut, Sailing the Seas of Cheese, was released in May, followed by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch's Music for the People in July. It included the number-one single "Good Vibrations". Two days after first hearing his demo, Whalley signed Tupac Shakur in August 1991, and by November, Interscope released 2Pacalypse Now, Shakur's studio debut.

1995–2000: Gangsta rap controversy, acquisition by MCA, Aftermath and Shady

In May 1995, the controversy related to gangsta rap and explicit lyrics intensified as U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole accused Interscope of releasing music that glorified violence and degraded women. Among others, the label was criticized by William J. Bennett, a former Education Secretary, and C. DeLores Tucker, the chairwoman of the National Political Congress of Black Women. In September, Time Warner announced it would disassociate itself from Interscope by selling its half-interest in the company to Field and Iovine for $115 million. Ownership in Interscope was aggressively pursued by EMI, BMG, PolyGram and MCA. On December 1, 1995, the Los Angeles Times noted that with five albums on that week's pop charts and sales of $350 million over the previous three years, "what may have been a smart move politically for Time Warner is now looking like a financial fiasco." In February 1996, MCA Records—then owned by Seagram—bought 50% of Interscope for a reported $200 million. Under the agreement, Interscope retained complete creative control over the label's recordings. MCA was not required to distribute material that it deemed offensive. MCA also acquired Interscope's music publishing arm.

Dre left Death Row in mid-1996 due to what was then reported as tension over the creative direction of the label, and founded Aftermath Entertainment, a new joint venture with Interscope. In November that same year, Aftermath debuted with the album Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath. The Death Row deal remained in place until 1997, when Knight was imprisoned for parole violations.

In November 1996, with records by Bush, Snoop Dogg, No Doubt, and Tupac Shakur, Interscope became the first label in 20 years to hold the top 4 positions on the Billboard charts. Six additional Interscope releases were in the Top 100. The label was frequently criticized for overspending on artist acquisitions and joint ventures, however, with revenue for 1996 estimated at $250 million, it operated at a profit.

In 1996, MCA Music Entertainment was renamed Universal Music Group. In 1998, the Universal Music Group parent company Seagram acquired PolyGram Records. MCA's Geffen Records and PolyGram's A&M Records were merged into Interscope, and in early 1999, Interscope Records began operating under the umbrella of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, with Iovine and Field as co-chairmen.

2000–2010: Departure of Field, DreamWorks, Cherrytree Records and Beats

Interscope/Shady released Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP on May 23, 2000. The fastest-selling rap album in history, it sold 1.76 million copies in its first week. Limp Bizkit's third album, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water, also surpassed a million in sales its first week, becoming the first rock record to do so. The same year, the label acquired the US rights to market and distribute the U2 album All That You Can't Leave Behind, beginning their relationship with U2, who Iovine had been trying to sign since 1990.

In 2001, Field resigned as co-chairman of Interscope to start a new label. Described as an amicable parting, Field said he was "anxious to become an entrepreneur again." An agreement with Universal allowed Field to resign a year before his contract was set to expire. Conversely, Whalley, Interscope's president since 1998, accepted the position of chairman of Warner Bros. Records in May 2000 and was not released from his Interscope contract until it expired in August 2001.

Interscope/Shady released The Eminem Show, in May 2002 and the soundtrack for Eminem's semi-autobiographical film 8 Mile in October; the two titles combined sold more than 11,000,000 records before the end of the year. I 2002, New York City rapper 50 Cent signed to Interscope with a $1 million advance. 50 Cent's major-label debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin' was released on February 6, 2003, through Interscope. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and the album went on to be certified 9× platinum in America. In April, it was announced that 50 Cent would sign and develop artists for release on G-Unit Records, which would be marketed and distributed through Interscope. 50 Cent's success allowed G-Unit artists to release their own projects.

In November 2003, Universal Music Group acquired DreamWorks Records and in 2004 it was merged into Interscope Geffen A&M. The DreamWorks A&R staff was retained, and the label's artists were divided between Geffen and Interscope. Among others, Interscope inherited Blink-182, The All-American Rejects, and Nelly Furtado. G-Unit artist Lloyd Banks released his debut studio album, The Hunger for More in June 2004 through Interscope. Anchored by the success of the single, On Fire, the album debuted atop the Billboard 200 and achieved platinum status by the RIAA.

2010–2020: Lady Gaga, Madonna, Eminem, departure of Iovine and appointment of John Janick

In June 2010 Eminem's Recovery entered the Billboard 200 at number one, his sixth album to do so. Born This Way by Lady Gaga was released in May 2011, and debuted at number one in 23 countries. In the US, with more than one million copies sold in its first week, it had the highest first-week album sales in five years. Four of the album's singles—"Born This Way", "Judas", "The Edge of Glory", and "You and I"—charted in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100.

Interscope signed Madonna and Van Halen in 2011. Both artists were previously signed to Warner Bros. Records; both released their first records for Interscope in 2012.

In October 2012, John Janick was named president and COO of Interscope Geffen A&M. The founder of Fueled By Ramen, Janick had previous success with artists including Jimmy Eat World, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco and Paramore. At the time of his appointment, it was reported that Iovine had chosen Janick as his eventual successor—Iovine's attention had increasingly turned to Beats, which dominated the headphone market with 2012 revenues of $512 million. In May 2014, following Apple's acquisition of Beats, Iovine resigned. As anticipated, Janick was named chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M.

Six Interscope releases appeared in the Billboard year end album charts in 2014: The Marshall Mathers LP 2 by Eminem, Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey, V by Maroon 5, Native from OneRepublic, Lady Gaga's ARTPOP, and Oxymoron by Schoolboy Q. In December 2014 it was announced that Selena Gomez, previously signed to Hollywood Records, had signed with Interscope.

Imagine Dragons' Smoke + Mirrors debuted on the Billboard album charts at number one in March 2015. A week later, Kendrick Lamar's album To Pimp a Butterfly appeared at number one, a position it held for two consecutive weeks. Lamar won five Grammys in 2016. In August 2017, JoJo announced she had re-signed to Interscope, in a joint venture deal to launch her own music imprint, Clover Music.

In October 2018, YG Entertainment teamed up with Interscope Records in a global partnership for Blackpink. Interscope and Universal Music Group would represent the girl group worldwide, outside of Asia.