History Creator / AristaRecords

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 Creator/FreddieScott, "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.

Hoping to emulate the success of Creator/MGMRecords, Creator/ColumbiaPictures established several different record labels over the years. The first was Colpix in 1958, which had two major hits ("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.

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/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.

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/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.

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/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 Creator/{{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.

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/CrashTestDummies, Music/AceOfBase, Music/TheRealMcCoy, and Music/{{Santana}}, whose 1999 single "Smooth" had the distinction of being the only song to ever appear on two decade-end Creator/{{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.

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. Embarrassed, Arista immediately dropped the band and deleted their releases.

* Music/TheChurch*

* Music/TearsForFears[[note]]Advance copies of the reunion album ''Everybody Loves a Happy Ending''; the retail release was on New Door Records in the US and Gut Records in the UK[[/note]]

* Music/JenniferHudson

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.

Hoping to emulate the success of Creator/MGMRecords, Creator/ColumbiaPictures established several different record labels over the years. The first was Colpix in 1958, which had two major hits ("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]), the studio took the opportunity to reorganize its music division as Colgems (distributed by {{Creator/RCA|Records}}) in 1966, 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.

* Music/KennyG

* Music/PharoahSanders

* Music/TearsForFears[[note]]Advance copies of the reunion album ''Everybody Loves a Happy Ending''; the retail release was on New Door Records[[/note]]

!!Arista performers with Wiki/TVTropes pages:

* Music/{{Foreigner}}

* Music/{{Heart}}[[note]]Arista released ''Dreamboat Annie'' and ''Magazine'' in Europe[[/note]]
* Music/{{Heaven 17}}*

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 and Davis was put back in charge, but things were never the same.

Hoping to emulate the success of Creator/MGMRecords, Creator/ColumbiaPictures established several different record labels over the years. The first was Colpix in 1958, which had two major hits ("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]), the studio took the opportunity to reorganize their music division as Colgems (distributed by {{Creator/RCA|Records}}) in 1966, which the massive sales of [[Music/TheMonkees Monkee music]] helped keep afloat. They 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 they'd be better served by purchasing an existing label, so they bought Bell Records in 1969. Colgems was phased out, and Bell became the studio's label.

By 1974, though, Bell was ailing. Its British branch was doing okay with GlamRock-based acts like the Bay City Rollers, but in America their 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/ElektraRecords Elektra]]). 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.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/arista_logo_1.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The first Arista logo...]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/arista_logo_2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:...and the second...]]

[[caption-width-right:350:...and the logo for the 2018 relaunch.]]

Hoping to emulate the success of Creator/MGMRecords, Creator/ColumbiaPictures established several different record labels over the years. The first was Colpix in 1958, which had two major hits ("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 and Michael Blessing, aka Music/MichaelNesmith), the studio took the opportunity to reorganize their music division as Colgems (distributed by {{Creator/RCA|Records}}) in 1966, which the massive sales of [[Music/TheMonkees Monkee music]] helped keep afloat. They 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 they'd be better served by purchasing an existing label, so they bought Bell Records in 1969. Colgems was phased out, and Bell became the studio's label.

Hoping to emulate the success of Creator/MGMRecords, Creator/ColumbiaPictures established several different record labels over the years. The first was Colpix in 1958, which had two major hits ("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 and Michael Blessing, aka Music/MichaelNesmith), the studio took the opportunity to reorganize their music division as Colgems (distributed by {{Creator/RCA|Records}}), which the massive sales of [[Music/TheMonkees Monkee music]] helped keep afloat. They 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 they'd be better served by purchasing an existing label, so they bought Bell Records in 1969. Colgems was phased out, and Bell became the studio's label.

Hoping to emulate the success of Creator/MGMRecords, Creator/ColumbiaPictures established several different record labels over the years. The first was Colpix in 1958, which had two major hits ("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 and Michael Blessing, aka Music/MichaelNesmith), the studio took the opportunity to reorganize their music division as Colgems, which the massive sales of [[Music/TheMonkees Monkee music]] helped keep afloat. They even briefly opened a subsidiary label, SGC Records. But as the fortunes of the Monkees waned, Columbia decided that they'd be better served by purchasing an existing label, so they bought Bell Records in 1969. Colgems was phased out, and Bell became the studio's label.

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 in 1989, with Arista joining them in 2004 via Sony Music's merger with BMG[[/note]] wanted to revitalize its ailing music division, Bell Records; while Bell's British branch was doing okay with GlamRock-based acts like the Bay City Rollers, in America their 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/ElektraRecords Elektra]]). 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.

* Music/TheMonkees[[note]]Inherited from Columbia Pictures' 1966-71 label Colgems, and distributed by Arista until 1994, when [[Creator/RhinoRecords Rhino Entertainment Company]] bought the entire Monkees franchise[[/note]]