

Its country music division, meanwhile, remained operational until January 29, 2006, when it was shut down by Universal Music Group Nashville.īetween 19, DreamWorks also operated a division in Nashville, Tennessee for country music acts. DreamWorks was folded into Geffen Records in 2005. Under the deal new, DreamWorks Records was placed within the Interscope Geffen A&M label, under the direction of Jimmy Iovine. Mo Ostin, the principal executive at DreamWorks Records, said: "Despite the challenges of the music business today, Universal is acquiring a wonderful asset and the sale will assure the strongest possible future for our artists". The purchase came at a time when the music business was "going through major changes" as it struggled to "counter falling sales and the impact of unofficial online music sales". It was announced on Novemthat Universal Music Group (the former MCA Music Entertainment, and parent of Interscope, Geffen, and Polydor) reached an agreement to acquire DreamWorks Records from DreamWorks SKG for "about $100 million". The label was presided over by Lenny Waronker and Mo Ostin, who had run Warner Bros. Henry Rollins (both as a spoken-word artist and with Rollins Band), Tamar Braxton, George Michael, Randy Newman, Morphine, Eels, comedian/actor Chris Rock, Powerman 5000 and others were also signed to the label. Rufus Wainwright was the first to be signed to the new label in early 1996.

Geffen Records distributed DreamWorks until 1999, when Interscope Records took over distribution duties (meanwhile, as Interscope and Geffen switched international distribution to Polydor Records, DreamWorks followed suit). The distinctive design, incorporating musical notes in the artist's trademark "dream balloon," debuted on the packaging for "Beautiful Freak," the first album from Los Angeles-based Eels and the second release from the record company. The label's logo was the last project completed by artist Roy Lichtenstein. In 1996, six years after Geffen sold Geffen Records to MCA Music Entertainment, he joined Spielberg and Katzenberg to form DreamWorks SKG, which included the subsidiary DreamWorks Records.
