Founded in 1959 by Berry Gordy, Jr. as Tamla Records, it is also known as Tamla-Motown outside the US.

It was origjnally based out of 'Motor City' (Detroit) and in the 1960s became the most successful proponent of a style of soul/R&B music that came to be known as the Motown Sound.

Motown left Detroit for Los Angeles in 1972, and remained an independent company until 1988, when Berry Gordy sold his ownership in Motown to MCA.

Now headquartered in New York, Motown Records is today a subsidiary of the Universal Motown Records Group, itself a subsidiary of Universal Music Group.

Over the course of its history, the Motown Corporation has owned or distributed more than 45 labels in varying genres.