why did herb and jerry sell a&m in the first place?

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jazzdre

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This is a question that's been on my mind for a long time. i have read and researched the history of A&M Records(along with also Motown) and from what I read,both companies were the most successful independent record labels from the sixties onto the eighties.

Both had a 'family oriented philosophy'(of course definitely with Motown;given that the company was created by Berry Gordy with the help of his family) concerning their artists;both had a singular, definitive,innovative vision for their companies; with Gordy, it was to take an African-American created company where it's never gone before; with Alpert and Moss, it was to be a record label for the artist by the artist.

Yet in 1988, I believe, Herb, Jerry AND Berry sold their companies! I read Gerry Posner's book about Motown called(what else) MOTOWN, and while I don't remember the exact reasons why Gordy sold, it seemed it came down to brass tacks; simply economics.(Another reason Gordy gives is-I'm paraphrasing-'I'm getting old,the kids are all spoiled,and I've got high blood pressure.')


Yet, I don't remember why exactly Herb and Jerry sold A&M. Was it for economics; for it certainly seems it was not for losing cash,from what I understand, A&M was in the top ten of profitable record labels for that time period; unlike Motown which wasn't making ANY money by then;it was just living off their past glories.

so what did they sell it for then? Was it because they were tired of running the ship by themselves, and they wanted an even bigger ship to run it?(in this case Polygram, which became Universal)

Come to think of it, Gordy sold Motown to Polygram as well!
 
Herb has been quoted as saying the time was right for such a sale (which, indeed, it was). The rising cost of talent, the emergence of CDs, which made duplication of high quality copies easy, pecularities of the industry that allowed for retailers to return unsold copies at tremendous cost to the labels, plus A&M's independent status in an era when distribution became ever more expensive all contributed.

In a more recent interview, Herb said the ease of sharing songs over the internet was a factor, but the Web didn't emerge until the late 1990s, so at the time of the sale, the Web wasn't a factor.

One other thing. I suspect Herb and Jerry weren't having fun with it. They had been through the exhiliration of building the company in the 1960s...growing it in the 1970s (with a few profit bumps in the road)...operating it in the 1980s. At some point, you have created and conquered and it becomes time to move on to new pursuits.

The pair still had residual energy for the record business and started the boutique label Almo Sounds, distributed through Sony. But as Herb said, this was Jerry's baby for the most part.

And yes, a half a billion dollars probably had something to do with the decision to sell...
 
The math is compelling. At the time of the sale, Herb was 54. If he made $5 million a year personally, he'd need to live another 100 years to make the money he could make selling (okay, another 50...the proceeds were split with Jerry).

Reading Stan Cornyn's excellent book about Warner Brothers, the handwriting was on the wall in the mid to late 80s...even before the internet. When cassette recorders came along, there were five or ten free copies in someone's hands for every legitimate one sold in a record store. It could only get worse.

---Michael Hagerty
 
I read somewhere that another reason the company was sold was that it had grown into something that it was actually never intended to be: an outlet for other artists to release their music. Herb Alpert's original intention was to have a vehicle in which he could independently release his own music (as the sole purpose for the creation of A&M). I believe, he was quoted as saying, back in 1999, "I don't like to judge other artists".
 
I'd question that one. Even though Jerry's the business part of the equation, Herb had to know that one, two or three artists don't make a survivable situation for a label. And as early as '67, Jerry Moss figured out that neither does 10 or 11.

As much as I personally prefer Herb, Burt and Sergio to Peter Frampton and Joe Cocker, it was Jerry's decision to get into rock and roll in a big way that saved A&M.

---Michael Hagerty
 
Insofar as business is concerned- it was a very wise deal. I think Herb and Jerry should have insisted that they would always have a custom label at their disposal, at the corperation, for as long as they pleased. This deal left them really out of the business/creative fold for good.
 
Michael Hagerty said:
Well, I'd argue that, too...Almo Sounds wasn't a stiff, by any means.

That depends on your definition of "stiff." Garbage was the only true commercial success for ALMOSounds. Add the critical success of Gillian Welch and OzoMatli (as well as the aforementioned Garbage) and, unfortunately, you still don't have a label with any success near the scope of the original A&M.

The way ALMOSounds was folded was less like a label shut down (or the absorption into UNi it was) than a merciful euthanization. Little or no trade news info; just the disestablishment of employee email accounts over a short period of time with little or no fanfare -- not even a dirge. Only a few employees sent farewell emails to some in the biz).

--Mr Bill
 
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