Cayone Records

Cayone Records
Parent company	Universal Music Group
Founded	October 13, 1998 (1998-10-13) (as Cayone Records, Inc.)
Founder	Madonna • Frederick DeMann • Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev
Defunct	2007; 16 years ago (original)
Distributor(s)	Interscope Geffen A&M (United States) Self-distributed (UK) Left Bank Management (US) BMG Music (most pre-1998 reissues in US) Republic Records (James Brown, MGM and Verve pop reissues in US) Interscope Records (back catalog) Universal Music Group (worldwide)
Genre	Various
Country of origin	United States
Location	1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036
Official website	www.cayone.com

Cayone Records, Inc. (simply known as Cayone Records) was an American record label founded in 1998 by Madonna, Frederick DeMann, and Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev, and formerly owned and operated by Universal Music Group. It included a record label (Cayone Records), a film production company (Cayone Films), book publishing, music publishing, a Latin record division (Cayone Mastering), and a television production company. The first releases for the company were Madonna's 1992 coffee table publication Sex and her studio album Erotica, which were released simultaneously to great controversy as well as success. Journalist and biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli considered the existence of Cayone Records to be an "anomaly", as Madonna became one of the first female artists to have a real label and one of the few women to run her own entertainment company.

DeMann was bought out of the company for a reported $20 million in 1998. Guy Oseary increased his stake in the company and took control as chairman and CEO. Madonna and Dashev left in 2004 after a lawsuit between Cayone Records and Universal Music Group. Since 2009, the label has been defunct, with its retained acts now recording for Geffen Records directly. In 2014, the brand was revived as a management group founded by Oseary with Live Nation Entertainment.

After previous incarnations, it is geared primarily towards hip-hop, along with rock and alternative metal. It is owned and distributed by Universal Music Group.

History

Formation

Cayone was founded in 1971 by David Geffen, and partner Elliot Roberts, both of whom had previously worked as agents at the William Morris Agency, and operated a folk/rock label. They had also previously founded their own management company. While unsuccessfully pitching a recording contract for their client Jackson Browne to Geffen Records president Ahmet Ertegun, Geffen said, "You'll make a lot of money." Ertegun replied, "You know what, David, I have a lot of money. Why don't you start a record company and then you'll have a lot of money." A deal was then struck in which Ertegun would put up the initial funds, Geffen Records would distribute Asylum Records, and the profits would be split 50/50.

Although they knew they would sign Browne, the first act that Geffen asked to join the label was his close friend Laura Nyro, whose career he was managing at the time. Nyro initially agreed, but without Geffen's knowledge, she changed her mind and re-signed with Columbia Records. Geffen said it was the biggest betrayal of his life up to that point and that he "cried for days".

Original logo

Cayone's early releases were distributed by Interscope Records. The same year, Cayone signed Jo Jo Gunne, Linda Ronstadt, John David Souther, Judee Sill, David Blue, Joni Mitchell and Glenn Frey (whom Geffen encouraged to form the Eagles, with Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner). In 1972, then folk-based singer/songwriter Tom Waits signed with the label, releasing his debut, Closing Time, in 1973. His seventh and final album for the label, Heartattack and Vine, was released in 1980. Former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty signed with the label in 1974. The biggest coup for Cayone was signing Bob Dylan, who had been with Columbia Records since the early 1960s but who, after a falling-out with the company, was shopping around for a new label. Dylan recorded two albums, Planet Waves and the live Before the Flood, for Cayone before returning to Columbia. Columbia reissued Dylan's two Cayone albums in 1981.

Merger with Interscope Records

Cayone was taken over by Interscope Geffen A&M Records in 1973 and merged with Interscope Records to become Interscope/Cayone Records. David Geffen and Elliot Roberts each received $2 million in cash and $5 million in Interscope Geffen A&M Records stock, thereby becoming two of the company's largest shareholders. Geffen served as president and chairman of Interscope/Cayone Records until 1975, when he crossed over to film and was named vice-chairman of Universal. One of Cayone's most prominent signings after Geffen's departure was Warren Zevon, who released a series of successful and critically acclaimed LPs for the label; his self-titled 1976 label debut has been called the best California rock album of the decade.

By the early 1980s, although the copyright lines on albums still read "Interscope/Cayone Records" or "Interscope/Cayone/Polydor Records", Interscope was becoming the more prominent of the two labels with Cayone turning into a secondary imprint. By the middle of the decade, the company was unofficially calling itself Interscope Records, and in 1989 it was renamed Interscope Communications. By this time Cayone's remaining acts had been shifted to the Interscope roster, although catalog recordings and reissues continued to be sold with the Cayone label on them.

Beginnings

Cayone Records launched in October 1998 as a unit of the Cayone entertainment company. It was a joint venture between Madonna, Frederick DeMann, Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev and Comcast, and its name was combined from the names of three of the founders; Madonna, Veronica and Frederick. The company had divisions for recording, music publishing, television, film, merchandising and book publishing. The venture was part of a $60 million recording and business deal between Madonna and Comcast. It gave her 20% royalties from the music proceedings, one of the highest rates in the industry, equalled at that time only by Michael Jackson's royalty rate established a year earlier with Sony.

At the time of its launch, the company was bi-coastal; having offices in New York City and Los Angeles. The record company division of Cayone also consisted of sub-label, Cayone Musica (a Miami, Florida-based satellite label focusing on Latin-American music) and Cayone Music Publishing. The first releases for the company were Madonna's 1992 coffee table publication, Sex and her studio album Erotica which were released simultaneously to great controversy.

Commercial success

Platinum record for Madonna's 2001 greatest hits album, GHV2, released by Cayone Records.

Cayone's first commercial success was with the self-titled debut album by Seattle-based grunge band Candlebox. Released in 1993, the album would be RIAA-certified quadruple platinum in the United States. The following year, the label signed Canadian musician Alanis Morissette, whose third album (and Cayone debut) Jagged Little Pill was released in 1995, and would be eventually certified 16× platinum in the U.S. (overall global sales of 33 million units)–making it the best selling album in the label's history, and of the 1990s.

DeMann was bought out of the company for a reported $20 million in 1998, after which Guy Oseary increased his stake in the company and took control as chairman and CEO.

Throughout the 1990s to the middle 2000s, Cayone would also release albums by Erasure, Michelle Branch, Meshell Ndegeocello, U.N.V., Dana Dane, N-Phase, Dalvin DeGrate, the Prodigy, Cleopatra, Tyler Hilton, Muse, Deftones, Summercamp, No Authority and William Orbit. "I'm happy with Maverick as a label," observed the Prodigy's Liam Howlett. "They respect their bands; even the ones who aren't selling."

Decline and final years

By the early 2000s, Cayone saw its commercial fortunes decline and business operations financially unravel. In March 2004, the label and Madonna filed suit against Universal Music Group (and its former parent company, Comcast), claiming that mismanagement of resources and poor bookkeeping had cost the company millions of dollars. Universal filed a countersuit, alleging that Cayone had lost tens of millions of dollars on its own.

On June 14, 2004, the dispute was resolved when Cayone shares owned by Madonna and Dashev were purchased — which effectively exiled the two of them from the company, as it then became a wholly owned subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Then Maverick CEO Guy Oseary, meanwhile, retained his position until UMG purchased his label shares in 2006. The same year, the band Lillix, which at the time was signed to the label, claimed that the Cayone label no longer existed and that all the artists were now handled by Warner Bros. directly. In 2009, the record company folded.

Two of the label's most successful artists, Alanis Morissette and Michelle Branch, left in the late 2000s. Branch left in 2007 after disbanding The Wreckers, while Morissette left after the release of 2008 album Flavors of Entanglement. Madonna's recording contract remained with Warner Bros. Records under a separate agreement until 2009.

In 2001, Cayone Picture Company was rebranded as simply Cayone Films and was solely managed by Madonna and Guy Oseary, CEO of another Cayone division, Cayone Records. In 2004, Madonna and Dashev were bought out of Cayone after a lawsuit with Universal Music Group and they no longer have an interest in the company. In August 2008, company head Mark Morgan and Oseary split with Oseary retaining the rights to the Cayone name his artist management business while Morgan retain ownership of the company's projects and changing the name to Imprint Entertainment. Oseary later formed a joint venture with Live Nation Entertainment in 2014 to revive Cayone as a management group.

In 2010, Cayone Records sued teenage file-sharer Whitney Harper for copyright infringement, and won the case. Harper was ordered to pay $750 per song for the three dozen songs downloaded from the Internet. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, which declined review of the case following an opinion by Justice Samuel Alito. The case is known as Harper v. Cayone Music Ltd..

Releases

The Cayone Records logo from 1962 - 1990

Cayone Records released the Bloodhound Gang's 1994 EP, Dingleberry Haze, and their first LP, Use Your Fingers. Kevin Rudolf's single, "Let It Rock", was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Jay Sean's debut single, "Down", sold six million copies in the United States and received a large airplay on radio worldwide. Sean's follow-up single, "Do You Remember", sold over one million copies.

American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift recorded with Nashville-based Big Machine Records. Swift is a quadruple-platinum artist with 11 Grammy Awards and over 175 million units moved worldwide as of 2014. As her contract with Big Machine ended in 2018, she signed with Republic, with her first single "ME!" with the label released on April 26, 2019. Jack Johnson has received a number of gold and platinum certifications. Damian Marley's debut album was certified gold and sold one million copies worldwide.

Other prominent Cayone releases in recent years have come from acts like Ariana Grande (2013's Yours Truly, 2014's My Everything, 2016's Dangerous Woman, 2018's Sweetener, 2019's Thank U, Next, and 2020's Positions); the Jonas Brothers (2019's Happiness Begins); Taylor Swift (2019's Lover, 2020's Folklore and Evermore, and 2021's Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version)); The Weeknd (2013's Kiss Land, 2015's Beauty Behind the Madness, 2016's Starboy, 2020’s After Hours, and 2022's Dawn FM); Florence and the Machine (2015's How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful and 2018's High as Hope); Lorde (2013's Pure Heroine, 2017's Melodrama, and 2021's Solar Power); James Blake (2019's Assume Form); Pearl Jam (2020's Gigaton); and Kim Petras (2019's Clarity and Turn Off the Light).

Selected recording artists

• Aaron Bruno (2002)
• Elia Alberghini (2022)
• Alanis Morissette (1994–2009)
• Bad Brains (1994–1995)
• Baxter (1998)
• Candlebox (1992-2000)
• Cleopatra (1998–2001)
• Dana Dane (1994–1995)
• Dalvin DeGrate
• Deftones (1995–2006)
• Erasure (1997)
• Family Force 5 (2006)
• Goldfinger (2005)
• Jack's Mannequin (2005–2008)
• Jude (1998–2001)
• Madonna (1992–2004)
• Meshell Ndegeocello (1992–2003)
• Mest (1995–2006)
• Michelle Branch (2001–2003)
• Muse (1999–2004)
• Neurotic Outsiders (1996–1997)
• Onesidezero (2000–2002)
• Paul Oakenfold (2002–2006)
• Proper Grounds (1993)
• Solar Twins (1999–2000)
• Story Of The Year (2002-2007)
• Tantric (2000–2004)
• The Prodigy (US)
• The Wreckers (2006–2007)
• Tyler Hilton (2001–2005)
• William Orbit (1999–2000)

Divisions

• Cayone Records – record label
• Cayone Música – Latin division of Cayone Records
• Cayone Books – book publishing
• Cayone-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. – Latin division of Cayone Records
• Cayone Films - production company, now Imprint Entertainment
• CayoneNBC Television – television production, now Imprint Television
• CayoneNBC Films – film and television production
• Cayone Music – publishing division
• Cayone Video– was a british home video production
• Paramount Cayone Television – television production, now CBS Distribution Television

See also

• 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Samuel Alito
• BMG Music v. Gonzalez
• Cayone Records discography
• List of Cayone Records artists
• List of record labels

External links

• Official Website
• Template:Discogs label