History Creator / AristaRecords

Clive Davis, who had run Creator/ColumbiaRecords throughout TheSixties, had recently been ousted and was looking for a new job. Meanwhile, Creator/ColumbiaPictures[[note]]no relation to the label until Creator/{{Sony}} bought them both[[/note]] wanted to revitalize its ailing music division, Bell Records; while Bell's British branch was doing okay with GlamRock-based pop acts like the Bay City Rollers, in America their biggest asset was Series/ThePartridgeFamily. Davis was appointed head of Bell, changed its name to Arista[[note]]named after UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity's secondary school honor society, which Davis had belonged to[[/note]], and got to work. Davis and his staff dropped most of Bell's acts but helped turn three they did keep, Music/BarryManilow, Melissa Manchester, and the aforementioned Bay City Rollers, into hitmakers. Meanwhile, Arista established its credibility quickly; one of Davis' first signings was Music/PattiSmith, and established acts like Music/TheKinks, Music/TheAlanParsonsProject, Music/LouReed and Music/GilScottHeron soon joined the label.

A financially troubled Columbia sold off Arista in 1979, but the label continued successfully; Davis and company rejuvenated Music/ArethaFranklin's career, helped Music/TheGratefulDead get their only Top 10 single, and turned Music/WhitneyHouston into a superstar. Arista also began a CountryMusic branch, Arista Nashville, in 1989, with Music/AlanJackson as the first signee. However, the company's reputation took a hit with the revelation that the alleged vocalists of Music/MilliVanilli, one of Arista's best-selling acts, had been lip synching to the real singers all along. Embarrassed, Arista immediately dropped the band and deleted their releases.

A gradual decline began in 2000 when Arista's then-current owner, Bertelsmann Music Group, deposed Davis, who formed J Records. His replacement L. A. Reid signed some successful acts (Music/AvrilLavigne, Music/{{Pink}}), but exceeded his budgets; his tenure only lasted until 2004. Meanwhile, BMG merged with Creator/{{Sony}} and Davis was put back in charge, but things were never the same.

* Music/KingsOfLeon

* Music/DavidBowie[[note]]Arista released ''Black Tie, White Noise'' and ''The Buddha of Suburbia'' soundtrack outside the US and Canada[[/note]]

In 2011, [[Creator/RCARecords RCA Music Group]], the Sony division that oversaw Arista, eliminated the label after a corporate restructuring and moved its roster to RCA. That was the end of Arista as an American rock/pop label, but the name is still used by the CountryMusic sublabel Arista Nashville and the [[UsefulNotes/{{France}} French]] division, Arista France.

A financially troubled Columbia sold off Arista in 1979, but the label continued successfully; Davis and company rejuvenated Music/ArethaFranklin's career, helped Music/TheGratefulDead get their only Top 10 single, and turned Music/WhitneyHouston into a superstar. However, the company's reputation took a hit with the revelation that the alleged vocalists of Music/MilliVanilli, one of Arista's best-selling acts, had been lip synching to the real singers all along. Embarrassed, Arista immediately dropped the band and deleted their releases.

Clive Davis, who had run Creator/ColumbiaRecords throughout TheSixties, had recently been ousted and was looking for a new job. Meanwhile, Creator/ColumbiaPictures[[note]]no relation to the label--at least not yet[[/note]] wanted to revitalize its ailing music division, Bell Records; while Bell's British branch was doing okay with GlamRock-based pop acts like the Bay City Rollers, in America their biggest asset was Series/ThePartridgeFamily. Davis was appointed head of Bell, changed its name to Arista[[note]]named after UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity's secondary school honor society, which Davis had belonged to[[/note]], and got to work. Davis and his staff dropped most of Bell's acts but helped turn three they did keep, Music/BarryManilow, Melissa Manchester, and the aforementioned Bay City Rollers, into hitmakers. Meanwhile, Arista established its credibility quickly; one of Davis' first signings was Music/PattiSmith, and established acts like Music/TheKinks, Music/TheAlanParsonsProject, Music/LouReed and Music/GilScottHeron soon joined the label.

* Music/TheKinks

Clive Davis, who had run Creator/ColumbiaRecords throughout TheSixties, had recently been ousted and was looking for a new job. Meanwhile, Creator/ColumbiaPictures[[note]]no relation to the label--at least not yet[[/note]] wanted to revitalize its ailing music division, Bell Records; while Bell's British branch was doing okay with GlamRock-based pop acts like the Bay City Rollers, in America their biggest asset was Series/ThePartridgeFamily. Davis was appointed head of Bell, changed its name to Arista[[note]]named after UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity's secondary school honor society, which Davis had belonged to[[/note]], and got to work. Davis and his staff dropped most of Bell's acts but helped turn two they did keep, Music/BarryManilow and Melissa Manchester, into hitmakers. Meanwhile, Arista established its credibility quickly; one of Davis' first signings was Music/PattiSmith, and established acts like Music/TheKinks, Music/TheAlanParsonsProject, Music/LouReed and Music/GilScottHeron soon joined the label.

A financially troubled Columbia sold off Arista in 1979, but the label continued successfully; Davis and company rejuvenated Music/ArethaFranklin's career, helped Music/TheGratefulDead get its only Top 10 single, and turned Music/WhitneyHouston into a superstar. However, the company's reputation took a hit with the revelation that the alleged vocalists of Music/MilliVanilli, another of its major acts, had been lip synching to the real singers all along. An embarassed Arista immediately dropped the band and deleted its best-selling albums.

In 2011, [[Creator/RCARecords RCA Music Group]], the Sony division that oversaw Arista, eliminated the label after a corporate restructuring and moved its roster to RCA. That was the end of Arista as an American rock/pop label, but the name is still used by the CountryMusic division Arista Nashville and the [[UsefulNotes/{{France}} French]] division, Arista France.

* Music/{{Pink}}

* Music/TheEverlyBrothers[[note]]Arista released a GreatestHitsAlbum compilation in 1984[[/note]]

* Music/TheMonkees[[note]]Arista controlled The Monkees' music catalog from its inception to 1994, when Rhino Entertainment company bought the entire Monkees franchise[[/note]]

* Music/DavidBowie[[note]]Arista released ''Balck Tie, White Noise'' and ''The Buddha of Suburbia'' soundtrack outside the US and Canada[[/note]]

* Music/SimpleMinds (UK & Europe only)

* Creator/MontyPython*

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[[quoteright:286:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/arista_logo_1.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:286:The first Arista logo...]]

Clive Davis, who had run Creator/ColumbiaRecords throughout TheSixties, had recently been ousted and was looking for a new job. Meanwhile, Creator/ColumbiaPictures[[note]]no relation to the label--at least not yet[[/note]] wanted to revitalize its ailing music division, Bell Records; while Bell's British branch was doing okay with GlamRock-based pop acts like the Bay City Rollers, in America their biggest asset was Series/ThePartridgeFamily. Davis was appointed head of Bell, changed its name to Arista[[note]]named after UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity's secondary school honor society, which Davis had belonged to[[/note]], and got to work. Davis and his staff dropped most of Bell's acts but helped turn two they did keep, Music/BarryManilow and Melissa Manchester, into hitmakers. Meanwhile, Arista established its credibility quickly; one of Davis' first signings was Music/PattiSmith, and established acts like Music/TheKinks, Music/LouReed and Music/GilScottHeron soon joined the label.

Columbia