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DreamWorks Records

American record label

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 3, 2026
Entity authorityQ1899781 ↗
Source-derived summary

DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Mo Ostin, his son Michael Ostin and Lenny Waronker as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label operated until January 9, 2005, when it was sold to Universal Music Group. The label itself also featured a Nashville, Tennessee-based subsidiary, DreamWorks Nashville, which specialized in country music and was shut down in 2005 then moved to MCA Nashville. The company's logo was designed by Roy Lichtenstein and was his last commission before his death on September 29, 1997. DreamWorks Pictures' DreamWorks Records catalogue is managed by Music Corporation of America, while its DreamWorks Nashville catalogue is managed by MCA Nashville.

History

Early years and soundtrack album releases

In October 1994, four years after David Geffen sold his former record label Geffen Records to MCA Music Entertainment, he joined Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg to form DreamWorks Pictures (also known as DreamWorks SKG). SKG stood for Spielberg, Katzenberg & Geffen. Geffen was still contracted to the now MCA-owned Geffen Records at that time, but stood down in April 1995. The three partners later launched the subsidiary record label DreamWorks Records in early 1996. Geffen focused on the music division of DreamWorks, with the live-action film division being handled closely by Spielberg, and Katzenberg focusing on the animated film division.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “DreamWorks Records” as american record label. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around DreamWorks, Records and American.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1996, 2005, 1997, 1994—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1996-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with DreamWorks, Records and American providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “DreamWorks Records”, the useful work is to connect “american record label” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1899781. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1996, 2005, 1997 and 1994.

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A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “DreamWorks Records” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.