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| 2 | %%Extra images removed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1651015961010445600 |
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| 7 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/arista_records_2018_logo.png]] |
| 8 | [[caption-width-right:350:The logo for the 2018 relaunch.]] |
| 9 | %% |
| 10 | Established in 1974, Arista Records soon became a leader in the music industry, but it already had a lot of history behind it. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Hoping to emulate the success of Creator/MGMRecords, Creator/ColumbiaPictures established several different record labels over the years. The first was Colpix. Founded in 1958, it scored a few major hits (among which were "Goodbye Cruel World" by Creator/JamesDarren, "My Dad" by Paul Peterson", "Hey Girl" by Freddie Scott, "Blue Moon" by The Marcels and "Johnny Angel" by Creator/ShelleyFabares) but not much more in the way of success. When Columbia's Creator/ScreenGems division managed to sell the pilot for a series about a rock band called ''Series/TheMonkees'' (with two members who happened to be Colpix artists, David Jones [aka Davy Jones] and Michael Blessing [aka Music/MichaelNesmith]), in 1966, the studio took the opportunity to reorganize its music division as Colgems (distributed by {{Creator/RCA|Records}}), which the massive sales of [[Music/TheMonkees Monkee music]] helped keep afloat. It even briefly opened a subsidiary label, SGC Records (distributed by Creator/{{Atco|Records}}/Creator/{{Atlantic|Records}}), whose best known acts were Music/NeilSedaka and Music/ToddRundgren's early band The Nazz. But as the fortunes of the Monkees waned, Columbia decided that it would be better served by purchasing an existing label, so it bought Bell Records in 1969. Colgems was phased out, and Bell became the studio's label. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | By 1974, though, Bell was ailing. Its British branch was doing okay with GlamRock-based acts like the Bay City Rollers, but in America its biggest assets were fading pop acts Series/ThePartridgeFamily (whose show had been canceled) and Tony Orlando and Dawn (who had [[ChannelHop switched labels]] to Creator/{{Elektra|Records}}). Bell had also released some Monkees compilation albums. Clive Davis, who had run Creator/ColumbiaRecords[[note]]no relation to Columbia Pictures until Creator/{{Sony}} bought them both in 1989, with Arista joining them in 2004 via Sony Music's merger with BMG[[/note]] throughout TheSixties, had recently been ousted and was looking for a new job. 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 well-known acts like Music/TheKinks, Music/TheAlanParsonsProject, Music/LouReed and Music/GilScottHeron soon joined the label. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | A financially troubled Columbia sold off Arista to the German label Creator/AriolaRecords in 1979. However, Arista 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 signing. 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.[[note]]One of the real singers on their album, John Davis, died from COVID-19 complications in 2021.[[/note]] Embarrassed, Arista immediately dropped the band and deleted their releases. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | Arista's fortunes rebounded in the 1990s, with Whitney Houston's turn as a film star bringing it three successful soundtrack albums,[[note]]''Film/TheBodyguard'', ''Film/WaitingtoExhale'' and ''[[Film/TheBishopsWife The Preacher's Wife]]'' were the three, with the last of the trio also doubling as the highest-selling gospel album of all-time[[/note]] Music/AnnieLennox doing well in her solo career (to which Arista had the US rights), and a number of one-off hits being contributed by such artists as Music/TakeThat, Music/{{Westlife}}, Music/{{LFO}}, Music/{{Five}}, Music/CrashTestDummies, Music/AceOfBase, The Real [=McCoy=], and Music/{{Santana}}, whose 1999 single "Smooth" had the distinction of being the only song to ever appear on two decade-end Billboard charts[[note]]It also was the last #1 Billboard Hot 100 hit of Main/The90s, and the first #1 Billboard Hot 100 hit of the Main/TurnOfTheMillennium.[[/note]]. It also enjoyed successful deals with Creator/BadBoyRecords, which gave the company hits for Music/TheNotoriousBIG and founder Music/SeanCombs under a variety of pseudonyms, and [=LaFace=] Records, which brought such acts as Music/ToniBraxton, Music/{{TLC}}, and Music/{{OutKast}} to international superstardom. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | 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/SonyMusicEntertainment (bringing Arista back under common ownership with Columbia Pictures, which Sony bought in 1989) and Davis was put back in charge, but things were never the same. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | 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, which was being run by none other than Clive Davis. While the name was still used by Arista Nashville and the [[UsefulNotes/{{France}} French]] division, Arista France, that was the end of Arista as an American rock/pop label... until July 2018, when the Arista brand was revived under the leadership of former [[Creator/MercuryRecords Mercury]] and [[Creator/IslandRecords Island]] head David Massey. Clive Davis, still running RCA [[CoolOldGuy at 86]], gave Massey his blessing. Currently, the label is focused on signing BedroomPop and other alternative artists of that ilk, alongside reissues of their back catalog. In March 2023, Sony shut down Arista Nashville and transferred its artists to their other country music divisions. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | !!Arista performers with Website/TVTropes pages: |
| 25 | [[index]] |
| 26 | * Music/AceOfBase* (plus Latin America/Japan) |
| 27 | * Music/{{Adema}} |
| 28 | * Music/AirSupply |
| 29 | * Music/TheAllmanBrothersBand |
| 30 | * Music/{{Babyface}} |
| 31 | * Music/DavidBowie[[note]]1993-1998; American distribution for his albums during this period was handled by Creator/VirginRecords.[[/note]] |
| 32 | * Music/BoyzIIMen |
| 33 | * Music/ToniBraxton |
| 34 | * Music/BrooksAndDunn |
| 35 | * Music/JakeBugg |
| 36 | * Music/{{Caravan}} |
| 37 | * Music/EricCarmen |
| 38 | * Music/CeeLoGreen |
| 39 | * Music/TheChurchBand* |
| 40 | * Music/SeanCombs |
| 41 | * Music/CrashTestDummies |
| 42 | * Creator/RodneyDangerfield[[note]]A 1980 reissue of his 1970 Bell Records album ''"I Don't Get No Respect"''[[/note]] |
| 43 | * Music/DiamondRio |
| 44 | * Music/{{Donovan}}* |
| 45 | * Music/TheDoobieBrothers |
| 46 | * Music/{{Eurythmics}}* |
| 47 | * Music/TheEverlyBrothers[[note]]Arista released a GreatestHitsAlbum compilation in 1984[[/note]] |
| 48 | * Music/AFlockOfSeagulls |
| 49 | * Music/{{Foreigner|Band}} |
| 50 | * Music/ArethaFranklin |
| 51 | * Music/GaryGlitter |
| 52 | * Music/TheGratefulDead |
| 53 | * Music/{{Haddaway}} |
| 54 | * Music/DarylHallAndJohnOates |
| 55 | * [[Music/JeffHealey The Jeff Healey Band]] |
| 56 | * Music/{{Heart|Band}}[[note]]Arista released ''Dreamboat Annie'' and ''Magazine'' in Europe[[/note]] |
| 57 | * Music/Heaven17* |
| 58 | * Music/WhitneyHouston |
| 59 | * Creator/JenniferHudson |
| 60 | * Music/PhyllisHyman |
| 61 | * Music/AlanJackson |
| 62 | * Music/TheKinks |
| 63 | * Music/TheKLF* |
| 64 | * Music/AvrilLavigne |
| 65 | * Music/{{LFO}} |
| 66 | * Music/BarryManilow |
| 67 | * Music/TimMcGraw |
| 68 | * Music/SarahMcLachlan |
| 69 | * Music/MilliVanilli* |
| 70 | * Music/{{Ministry}} |
| 71 | * Music/KylieMinogue[[note]]Distribution of her Deconstruction output, excluding Oceania (where she stayed with Mushroom Records) and the US (where her output was [[LateExportForYou not released at the time]])[[/note]] |
| 72 | * Music/{{Monica}} |
| 73 | * Music/TheMonkees[[note]]Inherited from Colgems. The only new Monkee songs released on Arista were the three Micky Dolenz[=/=]Peter Tork tracks on ''Then & Now: The Best of The Monkees'' in 1986. Arista had previously released the popular ''Greatest Hits'' and ''More Greatest Hits'' albums. Creator/RhinoRecords licensed all the original Monkees albums from Arista in TheEighties for reissue on vinyl and cassette, but Arista handled the CD reissues of the first four Monkees albums in the 1987-89 period. Rhino eventually bought the entire Monkees franchise in 1994.[[/note]] |
| 74 | * Creator/MontyPython* |
| 75 | * Franchise/TheMuppets* |
| 76 | * Music/TheNotoriousBIG |
| 77 | * Music/AudreyNuna |
| 78 | * Music/OutKast |
| 79 | * Music/TheAlanParsonsProject |
| 80 | * Music/BradPaisley |
| 81 | * Series/ThePartridgeFamily (reissues of their Bell catalog) |
| 82 | * [[Music/{{Gong}} Pierre Moerlen's Gong]] |
| 83 | * Music/{{Pink}} |
| 84 | * Music/IggyPop |
| 85 | * Music/SuziQuatro* |
| 86 | * Music/LouReed |
| 87 | * Music/RunDMC |
| 88 | * Music/{{Santana}} |
| 89 | * Series/SaturdayNightLive (a 1976 compilation of skits by the first season cast) |
| 90 | * Music/GilScottHeron |
| 91 | * Music/CarlySimon |
| 92 | * Music/SimpleMinds (Europe only) |
| 93 | * Music/PattiSmith |
| 94 | * Music/SocialDistortion |
| 95 | * Music/{{Sparks}}[[note]] UK and US distribution of their album ''Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins'' in partnership with fellow BMG label Logic Records[[/note]] |
| 96 | * Music/AlStewart* |
| 97 | * Music/StrayCats (outside the US & Canada) |
| 98 | * Music/TearsForFears[[note]]Advance copies of the reunion album ''Music/EverybodyLovesAHappyEnding''; the retail release was on New Door Records in the US and Gut Records in the UK[[/note]] |
| 99 | * Music/{{TI}} |
| 100 | * Music/{{TLC}} |
| 101 | * Music/PamTillis |
| 102 | * Creator/LilyTomlin |
| 103 | * Music/LouisTomlinson |
| 104 | * Music/CarrieUnderwood |
| 105 | * Music/UrbanDanceSquad |
| 106 | * Music/{{Usher}} |
| 107 | * Music/{{Vangelis}} |
| 108 | * Music/VanillaIce |
| 109 | * Music/WangChung |
| 110 | * Music/SteveWariner |
| 111 | * Music/DionneWarwick |
| 112 | * Music/BrianWilson |
| 113 | * Music/{{Yes}} |
| 114 | [[/index]] |
| 115 | |
| 116 | [=*=]US & Canada only |
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