A&M Records
A&M Records is a record label formed in 1962 by Jerry Moss and Herb Alpert.
It began its life as Carnival Records in 1961, but after problems with an existing record label of that name, Alpert and Moss changed the name to "A&M."
A&M releases were issued in the United Kingdom by Pye Records until 1967, when it began doing its own distribution. A&M has, in fact, a long history of distributing records for other labels, including Dark Horse Records (1974–1976), IRS Records (1979–1985), Windham Hill Records (1982–1985), Gold Mountain Records (1983–1985), and Cypress Records (since 1986.) A&M also distributed Ode Records and purchased Shelter Records.
A&M was sold to PolyGram in 1989 for about half a billion dollars. It is now a part of the Interscope Records group, which also includes Geffen Records. Interscope is in turn part of Universal Music Group which is owned by the French water company Vivendi.
From 1966 to 1999, the studio was located on the grounds of the Charlie Chaplin studio.
Artists signed under A&M Records
As an independent label, its artists included
- Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass,
- Burt Bacharach,
- The Ronettes,
- Joe Cocker,
- Karen Carpenter,
- Sheryl Crow,
- Sting,
- Styx,
- Supertramp,
- The Police,
- Brian Adams,
- Janet Jackson,
- The Human League, and
- The children's artist, Raffi.
See also
