The flagship company of BBWEG is Bad Boy Records, which was formed in 1994 with the signing of just two artists, former EPMD roadie Craig Mack and friend and collaborator Notorious B.I.G. Combs' innate talent as a power producer, arranger and CEO who had an ear for recognizing great talent and developing big hits resulted in the fledging imprint's big break with the making of Notorious B.I .G.'s m
ulti-platinum debut album "Ready to Die". Combs parlayed Bad Boy's success into an unprecedented 50/50 joint venture with Clive Davis and Arista Records, enabling the label to effectively market its roster of artists to a global marketplace. Diddy's own solo record. Bad Boy's annual sales have reached an overall average of $100 million with more than 75 million records sold worldwide by an impressive artist roster which includes platinum artists such as Faith, Carl Thomas and Black Rob; gold artists Total and Craig Mack; and promising up-and-coming artists G. Dep, Loon and Cheri Dennis, in addition to the aforementioned multi-platinum sellers Notorious B.I.G., Mase, Dream 112 and P. Additionally, Bad Boy Records has recently signed the newly reunited New Edition and southern rap pioneers 8Ball & MJG, as well as the winners of Making the Band II, which Bad Boy Entertainment produces in conjunction with MTV. In June 2002, after one of the most successful and consistent hit-producing partnerships in the music business in the past decade, Arista Records and Bad Boy Entertainment amicably ended their joint venture. As part of the deal, Combs gained full control of Bad Boy Records, including the complete artist roster and entire catalogue. February 2003 brought the announcement of that Bad Boy Records has signed a worldwide distribution deal with Universal Records. Under the auspices of the deal, Universal will provide marketing and promotional support for Bad Boy's roster and distribute both the Bad Boy Catalogue and all new release from the label. Most importantly, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs retains 100% ownership of Bad Boy Records. BBWEG operates several other music-related entities including Janice Combs Music Publishing, Janice Combs Management, Daddy's House Studios, and Bad Boy Productions, Inc. As a co-publishing agreement with EMI Music Publishing, Janice Combs Publishing manages more than 500 copyrights for a long list of successful music writers who have contributed to award-winning platinum projects. Writers on the roster include Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans, 112, Jack Knight, Prestige, Young Lord, and others. The Janice Combs Management subsidiary manages music producers in the industry and generates income of more than $10 million a year, while Daddy's House Studios, is one of New York's most innovative, state of the art, full-service recoding studios that has been used for the majority of Bad Boy's recordings and outside projects. As one of the most prolific producers in the music industry, Bad Boy Productions enables Mr. Combs to produce hit projects for many of today's popular artists. Over the years, his talents have been sought by major recording artists including Sting, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, TLC, Jennifer Lopez, Lil' Kim, Ice Cube, Mary J. Kelly, Boyz II Men, and Usher among others. On the forefront, he will be serving as executive producer on the upcoming album by Mary J. Blige.
