1970s: Beginnings

In 1971, South African businessmen Clive Calder and Ralph Simon began a publishing and management company. It was named Zomba Records and relocated to London, England, four years later; their first client was a young Robert "Mutt" Lange. Zomba originally wanted to avoid record labels to instead focus on their songwriters and producers while allowing other established labels to release the material.^[4] Later that decade, the company opened offices in the US, where Calder began a business relationship with Clive Davis, whose Arista Records began releasing material by Zomba artists.^[4]

Formation and early distribution at Arista and RCA (1981)

In 1981, Zomba formed Jive Records, whose operations began with the release of British dance and pop music from groups such as Q-Feel, A Flock of Seagulls, and Tight Fit.^[1] Its name was inspired by township Jive, a type of music that originated in South Africa.^[5] Clive Davis had hoped that Zomba's connection with Mutt Lange would help alleviate the difficulties Arista was having with launching rock acts to success.

Hip hop sprawl and rise in popularity (1982–1995)

DJ Jazzy Jeff pictured in 2002. The hip hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince sold over 5.5 million records with the label, and became the first hip hop act to win a Grammy award for "Parents Just Don't Understand" in 1989.

By 1982, Calder was introduced to Barry Weiss, a young college graduate who took Calder out to hip-hop clubs in New York City for his job interview with Zomba.^[6] Weiss and Calder began grooming musicians for what would eventually become the hip hop group Whodini.^[4] After two days, the group created and recorded its hit single "Magic's Wand." While the group would eventually leave Jive, the early success allowed the label to focus on hip-hop artists throughout the 1980s.^[1][7]

In 1987, Jive cut distribution ties with Arista, effectively separating them from Davis, who eschewed hip hop music at his label.^[8] As the 1980s drew to a close, the label entered a distribution deal with Arista's sister label RCA Records, and it continued to sign hip hop acts including DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Boogie Down Productions, Too $hort, Schoolly D, and Kid Rock.^[7][9]

Aaliyah pictured in 2000. Her debut studio album Age Ain't Nothing But a Number sold over 6 million copies and became a multi-platinum record for the label.

In 1990, Calder bought Simon’s stake in Zomba and became the sole owner of Jive Records.^[10][11] Jive's distribution deal with RCA expired in 1991. At this time, Bertelsmann Music Group acquired a minority share of the label and began to distribute its records directly.^[12] Weiss became chief executive of Jive Records that year.^[13] Jive opened branches in Chicago and had also become a premier label in the genres of hip hop and R&B with the success of acts like D-Nice, E-40, UGK, A Tribe Called Quest, Hi-Five, KRS-One/Boogie Down Productions, R. Kelly^[14] and Aaliyah.

Teen pop acts (1996–2001)

In 1996, BMG deepened its relationship with the label by purchasing a 20-percent stake of Jive.^[8] By the late 1990s, Jive began signing pop acts Backstreet Boys, NSYNC and Britney Spears. All three acts achieved massive success as the 2000s dawned, becoming the three best-selling acts in the label's history.^[15]

2000s: Acquisition by BMG and Sony

In 2002, Calder sold Zomba to BMG for US$2.74 billion,^[16][17] which at the time was the largest-ever acquisition of an independent label with major-label distribution.^[18] Calder then announced his resignation from Zomba, but continued to stay on at Jive in a temporary advisory role as Zomba was integrated into BMG.^[19] Weiss succeeded Calder as the new head of Zomba.^[2][20] In 2004, BMG merged with Sony Music Entertainment to form Sony BMG.^[21] During this time, Jive's management and distribution were restructured under the newly formed Zomba Label Group.^[22] Artists who had previously been on LaFace and Arista Records were subsequently absorbed under the Zomba group and placed under the purview of Jive Records’ staff. Thus, artists such as Pink, Usher, and Outkast became de facto Jive artists. Though both physical record sales and teen pop had steadily declined since the early 2000s, the output from Jive’s newer artists — particularly Usher’s Confessions album and Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below — would prove to be profitable successes for Jive. In addition to releasing Spears’ 2007 album Blackout,^[23] Jive was now also the home of a solo Justin Timberlake, whose FutureSex/LoveSounds also saw high sales.^[24] Other Jive artists at that time included Ciara^[25] and Chris Brown.^[26][27]

By early 2008, the BMG Label Group was said to include RCA Records, J Records, LaFace, Arista, Volcano Entertainment, Verity, GospoCentric and Fo Yo Soul — all overseen by Weiss.^[28] Later that year, Sony and BMG dissolved its merger, with the former buying out shares of the latter.^[29] As a result of Sony's buyout, Jive (along with its BMG sisters RCA and Arista) became a wholly owned unit of a refreshed Sony Music Entertainment. Starting in 2008 Jive was all capital (e.g. JIVE Records), this change started when BMG Label Group was renamed RCA/JIVE Label Group.

2010s: Dormancy

After two decades as president of Jive, Barry Weiss left for Universal Music Group^[30] in March 2011.^[31][32] On October 7, 2011, it was announced that Jive, along with Arista and J Records, would be retired to refresh and re-brand RCA Records by not confusing or diluting it with other labels.^[33] All retained artists on those labels were then moved to RCA Records.^[34][35][30]

The label is currently in hibernation, with the distribution of its back catalog handled by Sony Music's Legacy Recordings. Previously, the Jive brand was being exclusively used under the Sony Music France division under the name Jive Epic in France until 2019, when it was absorbed into RCA Records France.^[36]