Interscope

Interscope Records entered the music business with an unusual premise for a major-label venture: its A&R staff could make their own decisions, while artists and producers were given full creative control. Founded in 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Warner Music Group's Atlantic Records, the Santa Monica, California label scored its first hit records within a year and became profitable in 1993.

The label's early years also placed it in the centre of a national argument over gangsta rap. In 1992, Interscope secured exclusive marketing and distribution rights for Death Row Records, the hardcore hip hop label whose releases became central to the mid-1990s controversy. Time Warner, then Warner Music Group's parent company, ended its involvement in 1995, selling its 50 percent stake back to Field and Iovine for $115 million. MCA Inc. acquired a 50 percent stake the following year for a reported $200 million. MCA was later renamed Universal Music Group.

Now wholly owned by Universal Music Group, Interscope operates as part of the Interscope Capitol Labels Group. Iovine served as CEO and chairman until 2014, when John Janick succeeded him. Its roster history and current releases span mainstream pop, hip hop and electronic-minded pop, with artists including Lady Gaga, Ken Carson, Destroy Lonely, Homixide Gang and Louis The Child. That breadth reflects the creative latitude built into the label from its founding.