Motown is an American Record Company. The record company was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960, in Detroit, Michigan. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has also become a nickname for Detroit. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American-owned record label that achieved significant crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels (including Tamla Motown, the brand used outside the US) were the most succesful proponents of what came to be known as the Motown Sound, a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence. Those artists who signed to Motown were Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, Diana Ross and The Supremes, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5. During the 1960s, Motown achieved spectacular success for a small record company: 79 Records in the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 record chart between 1960 and 1969. For many decades, Motown was the highest-earning African American Business in the United States.
