Interscope Records

US label

Interscope Records was founded by film producer Ted Field (through Interscope Communications, Inc.) and record producer Jimmy Iovine in 1989 as a small alternative label.

In 1990, Warner Music Group purchased a 50% stake in Interscope Records to market and distribute their music products through Atlantic Records, a division of Warner Music, which, at the time, was a part of Time Warner. In 1992, Marion "Suge" Knight's infamous "gangsta rap" label Death Row Records joined the Interscope family. Death Row's first release was Dr. Dre's The Chronic album in December of 1992. November 1993 would see the biggest release for Interscope/Death Row, as Snoop Dogg released his debut album, Doggystyle, which went on to sell 3 million copies within several months of release. In 1995, Warner Music Group (then known as Wea International) sold back its interest in Interscope Records. In 1996, MCA, Inc. (later to become Universal Music Group, the world's biggest record company) purchased Interscope Records and would see most of its future releases distributed through them.

In August of 1997, Interscope had completely separated itself from the once highly successful Death Row Records, which had become independent briefly before signing a new distribution deal with Koch Records and ultimately going bankrupt. In 1998, PolyGram and MCA merged to create Universal Music Group. 1999 would see the merging of both A&M Records and Geffen Records into Interscope, creating the Interscope Geffen A&M group. By 2004, Interscope had become one of UMG's most dominant labels, ousting its sister label Def Jam Recordings.