Was Motown Better Or Worse?

[MickeyMac]

Do you think Motown should have stayed in Detroit, or gone to Hollywood? Do you think they improved their company by moving west or not??

[jbd441]

Sometimes you have to wonder if Motown stayed in D whether it would have helped the city. A friend of mine said Motown turned it's back on the city that made them great. You have to admit the rest of the country made them great too.
Just my 2 cents

[fryar]

It probably made sense to move the label to LA from a business perspective, the same way it made sense to start your car manufacturer or supplier in Detroit - networking, a concentration of professionals to hire, schools that train in that line of work, that sort of thing. That said, it definitely has an air of selling out to it, moving to someplace "hip" like LA once you're successful. Pretty lame, considering how popular Motown continues to be in the D.

[DetroitPlanner]

It probably made sense to move the label to LA from a business perspective, the same way it made sense to start your car manufacturer or supplier in Detroit - networking, a concentration of professionals to hire, schools that train in that line of work, that sort of thing. That said, it definitely has an air of selling out to it, moving to someplace "hip" like LA once you're successful. Pretty lame, considering how popular Motown continues to be in the D.

Probably would have made more sense for them to go to Nashville as opposed to L.A. then. Music is to Nashville what manufacturing is to Detroit.

[Vic_doucette]

Gordy wanted to do movies -- that's why the company moved.

[EastsideAl]

Motown was never as successful again as they had been in Detroit, when they were a dominant force on the charts and in record stores across the country and the world. And Berry Gordy's movie dreams mostly came to naught. So, while it's hard to predict with the changing music and economic scene of the '70s what would have happened had they stayed here, the move to LA certainly didn't help them in any major way.

[Downtown Lady]

Not only did Motown turn their back on Detroit, they also turned their back on the Funk Brothers, who supplied the sound for their greatest hits. In the documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown, it was mentioned that for the Motown 25 television special [[where Michael Jackson infamously debuted his moonwalk), James Jamerson, legendary bassist for the Funk Brothers, had to sneak in and take a seat at the back of the venue, as the Funk Brothers were not invited to participate in the show.