US label, formerly Bell Records. Arista was launched in November 1974 by Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., who purchased and renamed Bell, appointing Clive Davis as label President.
Label Code: LC 3484 / LC 03484
According to Billboard Magazine, the label was named for the New York high school honor society.
In 1979 the label's parent company, Arista Records, Inc. was acquired by Bertelsmann AG (parent of German label Ariola) and from 1983 co-owned by RCA. The co-ownership continued until 1987, when Bertelsmann acquired full ownership once again. Through a series of mergers, the Arista label is now owned by Sony Music Entertainment.
In September 2011, Sony announced that Arista, its subsidiary LaFace, Jive and J Records were all absorbed by RCA Records, bringing all of its artists to the RCA family. On July 17, 2018, Arista revived under the Sony Music banner, making it one of the four flagship labels under SME.
Publishing: Arista Music
Label designs:
Up to 1976, labels had a light blue background and an A logo in white or black, with no TM next to it.
In 1976, the TM was added as well as “Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws."
In ’1977, the design kept the same form but with a black background and blue A with TM.
In 1978, the design changed with a gradient background coloring from bluish to goldish, a 3-D A logo floating among smaller flat A labels.
In 1979, the Arista along the left of the 3D logo was changed to Arista's custom font..
In January 1984, The purple and black label appeared, which lasted through the 1990s.