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[NEW MOON]

Motown Records has weathered major changes in the last year, not the least of which include the exit of chairwoman and CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam in November, and is now is planning a restructuring that will bring it back into the fold of Capitol Music Group. With that, layoffs have been initiated, Variety has confirmed, with some 19 staffers being impacted.

Representatives for Motown/CMG declined to discuss personnel matters.

In a statement issued on Thursday, first published by Billboard and obtained by Variety, a Motown spokesperson said: "As Motown returns to the Capitol family, certain positions that had been created when we became a stand-alone label have since become duplicative. These employees are leaving the company and our People, Inclusion and Culture department is helping them find new opportunities — either within or outside of UMG."




Motown is home to such top-selling rap, hip-hop and R&B acts as Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, Migos, City Girls, Erykah Badu, Brandy and Ne-Yo. It was started in 1958 by Berry Gordy and went on to shape the sound of popular music throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and influence practically everything that came after. While it started as a standalone label, it's had several corporate parents within Universal Music Group. Its latest iteration took shape in 2014, when Habtemariam took on the dual role of president of Motown along with her executive position at Universal Music Publishing Group. That same year, UMG dissolved the Island Def Jam Music Group and moved Motown to Los Angeles to operate out of the Capitol Tower.

Habtemariam's leadership led to the signing of Motown's partnership with Atlanta-based Quality Control, which brought Migos, Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, City Girls and others to the label. Quality Control was recently acquired by HYBE America in a $300 million-plus deal though its recordings remain within the UMG family.

Motown joins several media and music companies that have announced layoffs in the past few months. Among them, Showtime, Amazon, Vox Media and Disney have begun to trim jobs as a reaction to the economic global climate, and the challenges plaguing several sectors of the market

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/motown-records-layoffs-capitol-reintegration-1235526061/#article-comments

 

[NEW MOON]

this would happen right after she signed with them. I wonder if it's too late for her to back out...

I just want music. I don't even think Brandy cares for sales, promotion or being a visual mainstream artist. Just throw stuff on Sound cloud and call it a day.

[Kalifornia.]

Hopefully the music isn't negatively impacted in any way

[Summertime]

Brandy should have stayed indie. She was doing fine. All she needed to do is stay committed to an era by releasing at least 3 or 4 singles an album and offering dope merch.

[Nine]

The most important thing is Brandy having the label support/resources. If this restructuring doesn't impact that then it's not a big deal imo.

I do wish she stayed indie, but I guess she wasn't feeling it.

[Nine]

I don't even think Brandy cares for sales, promotion or being a visual mainstream artist.

Maybe not being mainstream but she definitely cares about sales and commercial success.

[NEW MOON]

I don't even think Brandy cares for sales, promotion or being a visual mainstream artist.

Maybe not being mainstream but she definitely cares about sales and commercial success.

True. I think she cares and when the results aren't great then she stops pushing the project. But the bad single choices ruin any chance of success before it can take off.

[Justice Jackson]

Ch...

Where is that gif of cissy Houston sighing on stage behind Whitney...

[Lazarus]

Hoping for the best.

[Hatsumomo]

It's always something whew lord 

[Purple Moon]

No wayyyy

[Buy The Stars✨]

Brandy should have stayed indie. She was doing fine. All she needed to do is stay committed to an era by releasing at least 3 or 4 singles an album and offering dope merch.

Brandy hasn't released 3 or 4 singles since nsn. Y'all really trippin at this point if you even think of getting 3 or 4 singles this late in her life

[Summertime]

Brandy should have stayed indie. She was doing fine. All she needed to do is stay committed to an era by releasing at least 3 or 4 singles an album and offering dope merch.

Brandy hasn't released 3 or 4 singles since nsn. Y'all really trippin at this point if you even think of getting 3 or 4 singles this late in her life

Brandy only stops at 2 singles because at that point she's not seeing the commercial success she wants, so she gives up. I don't see Capitol allowing her to quit an era at 2 singles. They'll at least make her put out 3.

[Buy The Stars✨]

Brandy should have stayed indie. She was doing fine. All she needed to do is stay committed to an era by releasing at least 3 or 4 singles an album and offering dope merch.

Brandy hasn't released 3 or 4 singles since nsn. Y'all really trippin at this point if you even think of getting 3 or 4 singles this late in her life

Brandy only stops at 2 singles because at that point she's not seeing the commercial success she wants, so she gives up. I don't see Capitol allowing her to quit an era at 2 singles. They'll at least make her put out 3.

I feel you but we said the same thing with "human" and "two eleven" and it just hasn't happened

[GYNandTONIC]

Honestly Brandy doesn't need an album. Just release dope singles and visuals. The concept of an album gets her caught up and she misses so much time. After hearing The Wave and a couple other one off singles she did during that time. Brandy could've released visuals for those and been just fine.

Plus it's easier to push a single instead of an era