Northwestside Records
| Arista Records | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Parent company | Sony Music Entertainment |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Founder | Clive Davis |
| Defunct | 2011 |
| Status | Defunct, folded into RCA Records |
| Distributor(s) |
|
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
Arista Records, Inc. /ˈɛ.rɪ.stə/ was a major American record label. It was a wholly owned unit of Sony Music Entertainment and was previously handled by Bertelsmann Music Group. The company operated under the RCA Music Group until 2011. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records (which would become Sony Music Entertainment). Until its demise in 2011, it was a major distributor and promoter of albums throughout the United States and United Kingdom.
Today, the label's reissues and catalogue releases are handled by RCA Records and Legacy Recordings.
After being fired from CBS Records, Clive Davis was hired by Columbia Pictures (which later became sister to the former CBS Records in 1989) in June 1974 to be a consultant for the company's record and music operations. By November 1974, and with a 10 million dollar investment from Columbia Pictures, Davis folded the various Columbia legacy labels (Colpix Records, Colgems Records, and Bell Records) into a new entity named Arista Records, ultimately owning 20 percent of the company. The label was named after Arista, New York City's secondary school honor society (of which Davis was a member at Erasmus Hall High School). In early 1975, most of the artists who had been signed to Bell were let go, except David Cassidy (left for RCA Records), Tony Orlando and Dawn (left for Elektra Records), and the 5th Dimension (departed for ABC Records). Others, such as Suzi Quatro and Hot Chocolate, were farmed out to the Bell/Arista-distributed label, Big Tree. Several Bell acts, such as Barry Manilow, the Bay City Rollers, and Melissa Manchester moved to Arista. The British Bell label kept that name for a couple of years before changing its name to Arista. The label was immortalized in the 1978 Rockpile song "They Called It Rock," in the lyric, "Arista says they love you/But the kids can't dance to this."
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