Clover Music is an American record labelimprint founded by American recording artistJoJo. Clover Music albums are distributed by Warner Records, a division of the Warner Music Group. Warner Records took over distribution from Interscope Records in September 2018 following Aaron Bay-Schuck's departure from the label as President of A&R and his new appointment as co-chairman and CEO of Warner Records. The label will exclusively distribute all of JoJo's future recordings. As a gift to fans, and due to JoJo not owning the masters of her first two albums, Clover Music released re-recorded versions of JoJo's debut albumJoJo and its follow The High Road on December 21, 2018, for both digital download and music streaming.
History
2016-2017: Formation
Following an exhaustive multi-year battle with her former record label Blackground Records and its imprint DaFamily Entertainment, JoJo was finally released from her original recording contract in December 2013 and signed her new record deal that same month with Atlantic Records. Senior Vice President of A&R at Atlantic Records at the time, Aaron Bay-Schuck orchestrated the deal and was instrumental to JoJo's signing with the record label. JoJo then began working on her third studio album for the label which would eventually become Mad Love., However on November 9, 2014 it was announced that Schuck would be leaving his position at Atlantic and was appointed the new President of A&R for Interscope Geffen A&M Records thus leaving JoJo without an A&R at the label, prolonging the albums development. Two years after her signing to Atlantic, JoJo finally released her third studio album Mad Love on October 14, 2016. It served as her first major official release in a decade following 2006's The High Road. The album achieved a moderate success with little to no commercial promotion it still managed to debut within the top 10 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart at number 6 selling 25,000 album-equivalent units, of which 19,000 were traditional album sales, However the album completely fell off the chart in its third week of release. JoJo supported the album by embarking on the Mad Love World Tour for four months that begun on January 15, 2017 and concluded on May 26 2017, thus fulfilling her contractual obligations with the album cycle. The tours conclusion left JoJo craving more control over her career after being halted from releasing music for so many years. On July 27, 2017 during an interview with Dawn Richard on her JonLee Drive radio show JoJo states "This album was not indicative of my freedom, this album was absolutely necessary for me to give my fans something, it was my first label album I've put out in ten years... this was still me considering I think a bit too much of what other people wanted from me and i think once I turned 25 I felt a lot more sexier and confident". In the interview JoJo mentioned she had begun work on her new album and also hinted exciting news that would be mentioned off air. On August 18, 2017, JoJo officially announced that she had left Atlantic Records and had reunited with Aaron Bay-Schuck by launching her own record label imprint Clover Music through a joint venture with Interscope Records. In an official press release, JoJo states, "I'm reunited with Aaron Bay-Schuck, my original A&R at Atlantic, who was instrumental in signing me there. One of the hardest things I’ve had to do in my career was leave the Atlantic family. It was a decision I seriously struggled with, but felt I owed it to myself to fulfill my ultimate goal, which was ownership".
2018-present: Move to Warner
On October 3, 2017, just over a month following the announcement it was reported that Bay-Schuck would be leaving his post as President of A&R at Interscope Records and would be appointed the new Co-Chairman and CEO of Warner Records. Bay-Schuck waited out the remainder of his contract with that label until September 2018 before commencing at Warner, with his move Clover Music was re-homed and will now be housed and distributed through Warner Records. On December 19, 2018, JoJo teased the imminent release of new music through a phone call with her manager. Two days later, on December 21, 2018, JoJo surprised fans with the re-release of her debut album JoJo, her sophomore album The High Road and singles "Demonstrate" and "Disaster". The new 2018 editions include re-recorded vocals and slightly new arrangements. The decision to re-record the albums came from Blackground Records' removal of both of JoJo's albums from all streaming and digital selling platforms as Blackground owns the master licensing to the original recordings. JoJo fought to get the original albums back online, but would never come to an agreement with the label. JoJo’s lawyer stated they’d reached the end of the statute of limitations on the re-record clause which gave her the rights to “cover” her own music. The next release is scheduled to be JoJo’s upcoming fourth studio album, Good to Know on May 1, 2020. Following the release of the album, JoJo expressed interest into signing new artists to the label.
Title
Born and raised in Foxborough, Massachusetts, a heavily irish state. JoJo's family background includes Irish heritage which has always carried significance in JoJo's life as she has a four-leaf Clover tattooed on her right ring finger. The label is aptly titled “Clover Music,” as JoJo’s track “Clovers” on her third album was notably all about her personal struggles with depression over her life, her inability to release her own music, all the time she missed out on in her career, along with her determination to stay positive, and to get better. JoJo sings "What makes me mad / All of the lost time / Only left here to realize / What makes me mad / Can't open up my eyes". In the song's chorus, JoJo talks about visualizing being "in a field of Clovers" and "running forward back to life" as a form of therapy and self-care, with the bridge and outro elaborating on these ideas even further, "Sitting, pretty, steady, picking Clovers / Finally I feel I'm getting closure". The new imprint will give JoJo the freedom, creativity and ownership she has desired in her career.
