Jive

The Jive label was launched in 1981 by Clive Calder and Ralph Simon of the Zomba Group of Companies. In 1983, the label was introduced in the United States. In December 2002, the Zomba Group of Companies (including the Jive label), was acquired by BMG. Two years later, the label became part of the newly-formed Zomba Label Group, a unit of Sony BMG Music Entertainment. From 2008 to 2011, it was part of the Jive Label Group (also known as the RCA/Jive Label Group) under Sony Music. On September 26, 2011, while a certainty of Jive's artists migrated to sister label Epic, the RCA Music Group was disbanded by Sony, and on October 7, Jive, alongside sister labels Arista, LaFace Records and J Records, were all absorbed into RCA Records, bringing all of its artists to the RCA family. The Jive label would later be relaunched in January 2020 as a division of Sony Music Entertainment Italy, releasing hip hop/R&B/pop from up-and-coming Italian artists. The label's relaunch was led by Antonio Dikele Distefano, founder and editor of Esse Magazine. On 3rd Febuary 2026, RCA Records announced the re-launch of the iconic label JIVE Records as a stand alone worldwide label under the direction of Mike Weiss & David Melhado. Jive will operate out of Sony Music’s New York City headquarters with Mike Weiss & David Melhado reporting to RCA Records Chairman and CEO, Peter Edge & COO, John Fleckenstein. Label codes LC 7925: (BMG distribution—74321: international catalog-number prefix, 01241: North American catalog-number prefix) LC 5661 / LC 05661 (Rough Trade Distribution, RTD cat#s)