Homo Spendens — the documentary series about the machinery nobody explains. In 1988 Berry Gordy sold
Motown Records for $61 million. Five years later the same company sold again for five times that, which
makes him a man who sold too early — until you find out what he kept out of the sale.
This is the story of the half of a famous company that nobody photographed: the songs themselves, and
why a filing cabinet full of paper outearned the record label that made it famous.
⭐ Made in collaboration with Galatoons.
CHAPTERS
0:00 The man who sold too early
0:32 Hitsville
1:54 The company nobody photographed
2:40 The machine stops being the biggest machine
4:00 The sale
4:52 The two things in every song
6:37 The people who wrote them
7:43 What the new owners did
8:39 The other half
9:26 Why the second half cost more than the first
10:32 It happened to everybody else too
11:25 Field note
SOURCES
· Adam White, West Grand Blog — “Deal or No Deal?” (the June 1988 sale, MCA / Boston Ventures)
· UPI, 3 Aug 1993 — “PolyGram to buy Motown for $301 million”
· Black Enterprise — “45 Great Moments in Black Business No. 28: Berry Gordy Sells Motown Records”
· Deseret News, 4 Jul 1997 — “EMI pays $132 million for half stake in Motown classics”
· UPI, 1 Apr 2004 — “EMI buys last of Motown catalog”
· NPR, 2 Apr 2004 — “EMI to buy Gordy’s Motown catalog”
· Billboard — “EMI completes acquisition of Jobete catalog”
· Encyclopedia.com — Jheryl Busby
· BlackPast.org / Britannica — Holland–Dozier–Holland, the 1968 departure, settled 1977
· HISTORY / Billboard — Michael Jackson buys ATV, 14 Aug 1985
This video is for general information and entertainment. It is not financial advice.
#Motown #MusicBusiness #BerryGordy #BusinessHistory #Royalties
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