A SOUND REBOUND

INTERSCOPE DUMPED RAP MUSIC, BUT THE COMPANY KEPT ITS EDGE

When a little-known gospel group named God's Property made its debut last summer, more than a few record executives must have gagged on the irony and wished the album a quick trip to industry hell, the discount bin. The group's distributor, Interscope Records, had previously banked some of rap's most notorious performers. But the rap-flavored rhythms and praise-the-Lord lyrics of God's Property rose in the charts. Divine intervention?

Iovine intervention is more like it, as in Jimmy Iovine, head of Interscope Records. Prodded by its new owner, Seagram, Iovine and partner Ted Field are remaking Interscope from a high-risk purveyor of...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!