Whether it's having a bad roster or trapping its artists in horrible contracts, which ones would you say are the worst?

I would have to say the worst record label in history would have to be Arista Records because it seems that when new artists get their start in music Arista Records is usually the record label they seem to sign with because they think Arista Records gives the artists big money to promote their albums. But in reality I think Arista Records damages singers and music groups careers. Look at what they did to Whitney Houston when she released her 1990 album I'm Your Baby Tonight and when that album came out it was destined to be a hit but was a failure and only the title song was a hit in 1990 and I'm Your Baby Tonight sold poorly and Arista Records ruined Whitney Houston after that. A second artist that was also on Arista was Blu Cantrell and her debut album So Blu debuted she was gonna be a star and her first single was a smash hit. But when Blu Cantrell's second album Bittersweet came out only the song Breathe became a hit and Arista overpromoted Blu Cantrell after that and you never have seen Blu Cantrell since then. But perhaps the worst thing Arista Records did was cause Expose's 1992 album to have no promotion and only three singles were released and shortly after due to the failure of their album Expose disbanded. I truly think Arista Records is cursed and it seems that their only top selling artists were Dionne Warwick Barry Manilow and Melissa Manchester but when it comes to R&B singers Arista Records ruins their careers for good

Another record label that is the worst is Curb Records and I don't get how they are still operating because it seems that Curb Records seems to market new artists and then drops them for no reason or locks them in to a contract that they can't get out of. Take for example when Leann Rimes came out in 1996 she was signed to Curb Records and they would force promotions on her albums and some of Leann Rimes's albums got little promotion at all. Take for instance when Leann Rimes released the album Twisted Angel the album was a slow starter and only two singles were released from it and Twisted Angel sold poorly. Another artist that Curb Records ruined was American Idol Kimberley Locke and when she released the album One Love the only single released was the hit 8th World Wonder and Curb ignored the other singles and then after her second album was released Curb Records dropped Kimberley Locke because of poor album sales. Because I think Curb Records focuses more on country artists because they seem to think country music is their selling point

Back in the 1970's I used to think that Polydor was the worst record label.

Atlantic Records is also one of the worst record labels of all time because they also overpromote new artists and forget about them and Atlantic Records used to be a top record label for artists but in the 90's to the 2000's Atlantic started going downhill. One singer that they messed with was Brandy and when she came out with her self-titled 1994 album Brandy became a star and the album sold millions and the same with the Never Say Never album from 1998 and when Brandy's Full Moon album came out she had made a comeback so well. But on her fourth album Atlantic Records really gave Brandy poor promotion and didn't even market her fourth album well and the album only had one single released from it so far and because of this Brandy left Atlantic Records for Koch Records because of the poor treatment she received. While fellow Atlantic Records labelmate the late Aaliyah got good treatment Brandy was left in the dust with her fourth album. Another artist that also got overpromoted by Atlantic was Laura Pausini and when she released her English language debut From The Inside in 2002 Atlantic had hoped to make Laura Pausini as big in English like Celine Dion did but only the song Surrender became the only hit released from From The Inside and Laura Pausini has never ever released another English language album since. Lastly the third female star that Atlantic Records really messed with was Ashley Ballard and Ashley was gonna be huge in the teen market but when her single came out that was the only single released and Ashley Ballard's debut album was never released and Ashley Ballard disappeared. But it's interesting how good record labels start out great but end up going downhill as time goes by
Do you agree?

Island Records is another one of the worst record labels in history. Because when they began Island Records was a top record label for new artists and they used to do great promoting of their artists most known were The Cranberries and Melissa Etheridge. But when they bought Def Jam Records Island Records ruined themselves forever and focused on R&B and rap artists. Take for instance when singer Kelly Price was gonna release her third album Priceless Island Records kept changing the release date and year many times till it finally was released in 2003 and three singles were released from it and although Priceless sold well Kelly Price was dropped from Island Records for no reason. A second artist that was treated poorly by Island Records was Christina Milian and when she released her third album So Amazing Island Records gave the album little promotion and only the first single Say I was released and shortly after Island Records dropped Christina Milian due to the album's failure. Then they tried launching a teen oriented label in the form of Teen Island with a teen singer named Kristinia DeBarge and when she released her debut single Goodbye Kristinia was destined to become a big star and when her debut album hit stores it seemed that Island Records did not promote Kristinia DeBarge at all and the song Goodbye was her only hit single. But had Island Records bought Def Jam Records Island Records would not be in the mess they have become

I think EMI Records became the worst record label when Virgin Records America bought them because they started messing with artists and giving top artists no promotion whatsoever on their albums. Take for instance when RBD released their English language debut album Rebels the single Tu Amor became a hit along with the Christmas version but when the second single Wanna Play debuted on New Year's Eve 2006 EMI Records didn't release it to radio and this caused RBD's English album to sell poorly. Another artist who was gonna make it big was a Texas born R&B singer named Brooke Valentine and when the single Girlfight debuted Brooke was on her way to stardom. But even though her debut album Chain Letter was great after another hit you never heard from Brooke Valentine again. And then EMI gave Spice Girls rough treatment with promotion for their greatest hits album and the album featured two tracks that were gonna be from their comeback album which never ever saw the light of day so I guess EMI Records dropped Spice Girls after that

Another record label that is often known for being the worst is Columbia Records because I think they sometimes overpromote new artists and then drop the artists for no reason. Take for example when New Kids On The Block released their debut album in 1986 Columbia Records gave the album little promotion and only released one single but it was actually Hanging Tough that made New Kids On The Block superstars. While Columbia Records has made superstars out of Billy Joel Mariah Carey and Michael Jackson Columbia Records sometimes doesn't realize how successful new artists can be. Universal Records is another record label that overpromotes artists then drops them. Take for example when Paulina Rubio released her first English album Border Girl it was a smash hit in 2003 but Paulina has never released another English language album since and Universal Records forgot about her. And I think that's why they closed and merged with Capitol Records. But I think why record labels even survive is because they see new artists and top selling artists as high moneymakers

Another record label that is the worst is Curb Records and I don't get how they are still operating because it seems that Curb Records seems to market new artists and then drops them for no reason or locks them in to a contract that they can't get out of. Take for example when Leann Rimes came out in 1996 she was signed to Curb Records and they would force promotions on her albums and some of Leann Rimes's albums got little promotion at all. Take for instance when Leann Rimes released the album Twisted Angel the album was a slow starter and only two singles were released from it and Twisted Angel sold poorly. Another artist that Curb Records ruined was American Idol Kimberley Locke and when she released the album One Love the only single released was the hit 8th World Wonder and Curb ignored the other singles and then after her second album was released Curb Records dropped Kimberley Locke because of poor album sales. Because I think Curb Records focuses more on country artists because they seem to think country music is their selling point
If my memory serves me, the label wasn't willing to let go of Tim McGraw gracefully enough either. Another Curb act that wasn't given the proper treatment in my opinion is the Clark Family Experience.

God bless you and the awesome band and Tim and LeAnn always!!!

Holly (a day one fan of LeAnn)

If my memory serves me, the label wasn't willing to let go of Tim McGraw gracefully enough either. Another Curb act that wasn't given the proper treatment in my opinion is the Clark Family Experience.

God bless you and the awesome band and Tim and LeAnn always!!!

Holly (a day one fan of LeAnn)

I think the reason why Curb Records is so obsessed with country music is because Curb Records thinks that country music is a huge seller in music but there was other artists that Curb Records overpromoted like American Idol's Kimberley Locke and when she released her debut album One Love Curb Records released the single 8th World Wonder and then forgot about the other singles and once her second Curb album came out Kimberley Locke was dropped from Curb Records. But why Curb Records gave Leann Rimes's Twisted Angel limited promotion i'll never understand? Because the main single Life Goes On seemed to be the only popular single and a year after it's release Twisted Angel was in the bargain bins of music stores. But ever since they merged with Word Records Curb Records is focusing mostly on Christian music

In my opinion the lables OF TODAY are the worst.....

Nothing but digitally sourced crap on these records!!

Geffen Records. Every time I read about a singer who was signed to that label, there's been disputes between David Geffen and the singer over what song(s) are going to be on an album or what single is going to be released. Donna Summer was one of several who had riffs with the record company, amidst some fame/hits here and there in the 80s.

Geffen Records. Every time I read about a singer who was signed to that label, there's been disputes between David Geffen and the singer over what song(s) are going to be on an album or what single is going to be released. Donna Summer was one of several who had riffs with the record company, amidst some fame/hits here and there in the 80s.

If you look at the past Geffen Records has always been the worst record label of all. One female group that was really messed up with by Geffen was She Moves and I first read about She Moves when I saw their debut album being featured on sale at the no longer existing Circuit City and I was curious to find out more on She Moves so I bought the single Breaking All The Rules and She Moves itself was great and I kept waiting for a second album from She Moves but due to Geffen Records overpromotion of She Moves the only other single they released was a cover of Tim McGraw's duet with Faith Hill It's Your Love and because of Geffen Records She Moves disbanded. But Geffen Records got even more ruined when A&M Records bought them and took some of A&M Records's artists with them. When Keyshia Cole released her second album Just Like You two singles were released and then Keyshia got little promotion for that album but it was also a Geffen album but it got better when Interscope Records bought Geffen Records

It has to be Death Row Records, founded by Dr. Dre and Marion "Suge" Knight in 1991. It was essentially a not-so-secret front for Knight's criminal operations and Bloods gang members were on its payroll.

Knight funneled drug money through Death Row and ordered hits on rival artists. It is now owned by Snoop Dogg who bought the label in 2022.

Geffen Records also messed with Cher when she released her 1991 album Love Hurts and the song Save Up Your Tears was supposedly gonna be her first single but the song Love And Understanding was chosen as the first single instead. And it caused the album to have weak marketing too

Island Records is another one of the worst record labels in history.

I remember my first exposure to Island records came during the late 70's to early 80's. I recall that our jukebox at one time or another had the following singles which I really like on it:

"Every Kinda People" - Robert Palmer

"Bad Case of Loving You" - Robert Palmer

"Video Killed the Radio Star" - The Buggles

"While You See a Chance" - Steve Winwood

Unfortunately that God-awful "Pilot of the Airwaves" by Charlie Dore was also put on it and I would cringe every time someone played it. :mad:

Ahhhhh you dont like that song buddy?

That song is on my KTEL cassette (Power play) - Its the last song on side 2...

It seems ok.........

The other worst record label is Universal Records because they always have new artists but give them poor promotion. Take for example when TV host Kathie Lee Gifford released her pop album Heart Of A Woman in 2000 only one single was released and the album sold poorly. And people blamed Universal Records for doing this. Because Universal Records has focused on artists like Paulina Rubio Amy Winehouse Colbie Caliat and other singers Universal Records is known for being the worst record label of all time

I believe there's no good answer to that question as it's just highly subjective opinions by most people.

Ed.

Easy one. Decca Records. They auditioned The Beatles. And passed. It doesn’t get worse than that.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles%27_Decca_audition

Doesn't Decca Records do classical easy listening and show tunes? I never knew The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records so this is interesting to know