Tamla

Tamla Records was started on January 12, 1959 by Berry Gordy Jr. using $800 borrowed from his family's loan fund. Later in the year, he started his second label, Motown, which became Tamla's parent label and the cornerstone of Gordy's musical empire.

Motown and all associated labels, including Tamla, were sold to MCA and Boston Ventures in June 1988, which then sold it to PolyGram in 1993.

During the PolyGram era, Tamla was reactivated in late 1996 after 10 years
in dormancy (under the presidency of Uptown Records founder Andre Harrell)
with the intention of becoming a Reggae imprint, but was then immediately retired
after Harrell was relieved of his position in 1997.
Tamla (hereby referred to at this point as Tamla Recordings)
was the only classic Motown imprint ever to be reactivated since 1986,
and its only artist was Reggae legend Coco Tea.

As of the acquisition of PolyGram in 1999, Motown and all its properties are now part of the Universal Music Group.