Specialty Records was an American record label based in Los Angeles. It was originally launched as Juke Box Records in 1946, but later renamed by its owner Art Rupe when he parted company with a couple of his original partners. Specialty is noted for the rhythm and blues, blues, gospel and early rock and roll music recorded by the label. The major producers for the label were Rupe, Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Johnny Vincent and J. W. Alexander.
Art Rupe was known for being one of the most honest owners of an independent R&B record company in the 1950s. He was known for paying his artists, recording them well, and allowing some of the wildest R&B to be issued on any label of the day. He was also known for hating the payola environment at the time and never paid it, which probably hindered some potential sales.
Specialty also had two music publishing companies, Venice Music for BMI licensed songs and Greenwich Music for ASCAP licensed songs.
The record label was sold to Fantasy Records in 1991 and is now part of the Concord Music Group. The music publishing unit was sold to Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
Read more about Specialty Records: Highlights
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