“Motown” wasn’t just one label; the Motown Record Corporation was home to over a dozen imprints, each of which had its own roster of artists and its own distinctive house style (and colour scheme). Below are all the labels of the Motown family, arranged in roughly chronological order of their foundation. Click the label logo box to find out more about each one, and to access a list of all the singles released on that label that have been reviewed so far.
(If you just want a complete list of all the singles reviewed to date, you might prefer the Master Index instead).
TAMLA RECORDS
The first one.
MOTOWN RECORDS
The famous one.
MIRACLE RECORDS
The forgotten one.
GORDY RECORDS
The purple one.
MEL-O-DY RECORDS
The (mostly) country one.
DIVINITY RECORDS
The gospel one.
WORKSHOP JAZZ RECORDS
The jazz one.
VIP RECORDS
The neglected one.
SOUL RECORDS
The soulful one.
INFERNO RECORDS
The obscure one.
CHISA RECORDS
The world music one.
RARE EARTH RECORDS
The white rock one.
MoWEST RECORDS
The California one.
PRODIGAL RECORDS
The Seventies one.
MELODYLAND / HITSVILLE RECORDS
The (second) country one.
MANTICORE RECORDS
The dubiously included one.
MISCELLANEOUS
One-offs, special releases and other Motown flotsam and jetsam not covered by the above labels.
BRITAIN
All Motown singles released in the United Kingdom, via Tamla Motown and other British licensees.
Motown Junkies 
Why can K buy a cd, Marvin Gaye for example, that still holds the TAMLA label; but I can’t buy a cd (Supremes, Four Tops for example that uses the MOTOWN (map) label? Anyone?
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what did the big white A across a green Tamla motown single mean , e. g Martha Reeves – Nowhere to run
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We haven’t got there yet! 🙂
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On a promo record – usually a British one – I believe it simply indicates which is the “plug” side, or A-side, for radio play?
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Hi,
Would you class the Motown Yesteryear Series as being the standard Motown imprint with a different label?
I’ve just come across 6 whilst looking in a box of Soul 45s I haven’t looked in for years.
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Yes, I haven’t bothered putting that as an extra label here, since there aren’t any “unique” Yesteryear sides we’ll reach for review in the course of this blog.
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Hi Did Being with you my smokey Robinson only have one label on the single please !!!
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We haven’t got that far yet (and won’t for a while, as it came out in 1981!), but as far as I’m aware it was only ever on Tamla in the USA.
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The Tamla label was the first label under the corporation. When Berry & Smokey came up with a name for the label. The movie TAMMY was a hit movie at the time, but were dissuaded from using due to copyright problems. They decided on Tamla. After much success, Smokey even named his daughter Tamla.
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Lest we forget, Ric-Tic was absorbed into Motown in the mid-60’s
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All of Golden World was acquired by Motown when owner Eddie Wingate became ill and needed cash to cover medical needs.
These labels were – Golden World, Ric-Tic, and Wingate.
The studios were also acquired- and became a second studio second to “The Snake Pit” at the W. Grand building. A number of artists were also signed over Jr Walker, The Dramatics, Manhattans, Freddie Gorman, Edwin Starr.
The Parliaments (George Clinton) opted out as not liking Motown so they became independent of the corp.
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