By the end of the 1960’s, Berry Gordy had successfully spearheaded a
major shift in the landscape of popular music by making the sound of young
black America part of mainstream popular music - first conquering America, then
moving on to the UK and Europe (which were two different things then!) and
finally the rest of the world. This was largely achieved without significantly
compromising what the original audience wanted from the music, but by tweaking
it so that the mainstream audience gradually recognised what great music it
was, and was eager to consume as much as they could get their ears on.
A significant advantage was the pool of musical talent that Gordy was
able to tap into, and he used this as the foundation of a Hitsville USA organisation
that made sure the performers had songs, production, musical backing and
marketing know-how to create commercial success - and for artists who fully got
with Gordy’s programme, this could mean a long-term career, rather than just a
short burst of hit records that was still the typical experience for many
artists.
