Universal Motown Republic Group, also abbreviated as UMRG, was an umbrella label founded in 1999 by Universal Music Group to oversee the labels assigned to its unit. UMRG was formed in 1999 by pooling together Universal Records, Motown Records, and Republic Records, all of which are now defunct, but which gave way to the current incarnations of those labels at the time, Universal Motown Records and Universal Republic Records.
Universal Motown Republic Group was one of the three Universal Music Group umbrella units in North America to deal primarily with mainstream pop, rock, and urban performers; the others being: The Island Def Jam Music Group (now named The Island Def Jam Motown Music Group) and Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Barry Weiss served as Chairman & CEO of the Company. In the summer of 2011, changes were made at the Universal Motown Republic Group umbrella, Motown Records was separated from Universal Motown Records (causing it to shut down and transfer it's artists to either Motown Records or Universal Republic Records) and the umbrella label and merged into the The Island Def Jam Music Group, making Universal Republic Records a stand alone label and shutting down Universal Motown Republic Group.
Famous quotes containing the words universal, republic and/or group:
“Music is the sound of the universal laws promulgated. It is the only assured tone. There are in it such strains as far surpass any man’s faith in the loftiness of his destiny. Things are to be learned which it will be worth the while to learn.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Who is this Renaissance? Where did he come from? Who gave him permission to cram the Republic with his execrable daubs?”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Now, honestly: if a large group of ... demonstrators blocked the entrances to St. Patrick’s Cathedral every Sunday for years, making it impossible for worshipers to get inside the church without someone escorting them through screaming crowds, wouldn’t some judge rule that those protesters could keep protesting, but behind police lines and out of the doorways?”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1953)