Geffen Records is an American major record label, owned by Universal Music Group, which operates as one third of the Interscope Geffen A&M Records label. Today, it is headquartered in the city of New York and is headed by Gee Roberson, who reports to John Janick, CEO of Interscope Records.

History

Geffen Records was started in 1980 by music industry businessman David Geffen who, in the early 1970s, had founded Asylum Records. Geffen stepped down from Asylum in 1975, when he crossed over to film and was named a vice-president of Warner Bros. Pictures. He was fired from Warner circa 1978, but remained locked in a 5-year contract, which prevented him from working elsewhere. He returned to work in 1980 and struck a deal with Warner Bros. Records to create Geffen Records. Warner provided 100 percent of the funding for the label's operations and distributed its releases in the United States and Canada; Epic Records handled distribution in the rest of the world until 1985, when Warner Bros. also took over those territories. Profits were split 50/50 between Geffen and the respective distributors.