Motown Records was founded in 1959 in Detroit, Michigan. Berry Gordy, the label's founder, was a local songwriter and producer who collaborated with local talent on the rhythm and blues music scene. The label was considered a hit factory, producing and releasing dozens of top-10 hits throughout the 1960s. As an indication of the place where it all began, Motown records was known as a music-making factory, keeping the studio open 22 hours a day and using a formula for making hits that would be trademarked the "Motown Sound."
The Motown Sound is a formula for rhythm and blues- and gospel-infused popular music. The Motown Sound grew from Berry Gordy and his collaborators Eddie and Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier. The sound combined elements of gospel music like call and response, tambourines and hand clapping with rhythm-and-blues rhythms, bass lines and horns and added classic pop melodies and orchestral strings. The formula turned the simplest love songs into chart-topping catchy tunes and rocketed Motown Records and the Motown Sound into popular culture
Motown Records vigorously protected its sound during its heyday. Artists were given material to sing based on the Motown Sound formula that had produced so many hits. It wasn't until the late 1970s that Motown gave more creative control to its artist. The label's artist roster includes some of the most successful groups and singers in the whole of the music industry. The Jackson 5, Diana Ross and The Supremes, The Miracles, Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson are the labels most influential artists.
From the label's inception until its sale in the late 1980s, Motown was responsible for hundreds of number-one hits. The label evolved to include a jazz and rock label and Motown Productions even began to produce television programs and films. The label continued as an independent label until 1988, still releasing successful albums by artists like Lionel Ritchie and Marvin Gaye toward the end. Under Universal Music Group, the Universal Motown label continues its long tradition with several successful rhythm and blues, hip hop and rap artists under its direction.